Lightweight Django

Prerequisites

Before we dive in, this chapter is an outline of the knowledge and software requirements you’ll need to follow the examples in this book.

Python

This book is aimed at developers with at least some previous Python experience, and in this book we are using Python 3. In particular, the examples have been tested to run on Python 3.3 and 3.4. Those familiar enough with Python may be able to work through this book using Python 2.7, converting the example code as needed, though it is not recommended. To read more about what is new in these versions of Python and to find installation instructions for your system, visit https://www.python.org/downloads/.

We expect that you have Python installed on your local development machine, know how to edit Python files, and know how to run them. Throughout this book, when we reference Python on the command line, we will use python, though some systems or installations may require using python3 or the full version, such as python3.3 or python3.4. Similarly, when installing new packages, the examples will use pip, though some installations may require using pip3. For this book, and Python development in general, it is recommended that you create an isolated Python environment for each project using virtualenv. Without an isolated environment, installing new Python packages with pip may require root access or administrative rights on your computer. We’ll assume that if this is the case, you will prefix the pip command with sudo or any other ...