Django for Beginners: Build websites with Python and Django

Completely updated for Django 4.2!

Learn how to build five real-world Python web applications with authentication, testing, permissions, environment variables, and production-ready deployment.

Key Features

* Master Django fundamentals, including models, ORM, views, templates, settings, forms, authentication, and middleware.

* Deploy your websites into production and learn how to toggle between local and production environments seamlessly.

* Write robust tests for each project and utilize environment variables for enhanced security.

* Implement custom authentication: signup, login, logout, password change, and password reset.

* Integrate powerful third-party Django packages to improve key functionality.

Who this book is for

This book is for readers with basic Python knowledge and programmers transitioning to Django from other web frameworks. It is a fast-paced guide to current best practices and modern web development with Django.

Reviews

“When readers interested in web development ask me what to read next after Python Crash Course, I refer them to Will's books: Django for Beginners, Django for APIs, and Django for Professionals. I highly recommend you check out his work.”—ERIC MATTHES, author of Python Crash Course

“If you’re looking for a guide into the world of Django, then the three-step of Django for Beginners, Django for APIs, and Django for Professionals is ideal: get up and running, get into APIs, which are a cornerstone of modern app development, and then add the bits you need to your fledging app into production, from databases and static files, to user accounts and security. It’s a long road. Will’s books are an awesome companion.”—CARLTON GIBSON, Django Fellow and Django REST Framework core contributor

“A fantastic resource for web development with Django and Python. I highly recommended them”—JEFF TRIPLETT, Python Software Foundation Director, DEFNA President, and REVSYS Partner

“Django for Beginners is my go-to recommendation whenever anyone asks how to learn Django. It starts with a friendly and patient approach but manages to cover all the core fundamentals, dives into deployment, and has extensive coverage of testing. If you are looking for one book to master Django, this is it!”—ANNA MAKARUDZE, former President of the Django Software Foundation

“A fantastic on-ramp to this brilliant web framework. Django for Beginners doesn’t just talk about building sites with Django, it walks you through five of them. Get in the reps!”—ADAM JOHNSON, Django Project Steering Council member and author of two intermediate Django books

“Choosing a book for your Django learning journey is a big commitment of your time and energy. That's why it matters who the author is and the intended audience. I've known Will for many years and he's deeply embedded in the Django community. He is a former Board Member of the Django Software Foundation and cohost of the 5-years running DjangoChat podcast. This means he's thought a lot about how people learn and use Django. That goes way beyond just reading the docs and doing a tutorial.” —MICHAEL KENNEDY, host of Talk Python and Python Bytes podcasts, founder of Talk Python Training

Table of Contents

0. Introduction

1. Initial Set Up

2. Hello World App

3. Pages App

4. Message Board App

5. Message Board Deployment

6. Blog App

7. Forms

8. User Accounts

9. Blog Deployment

10. Custom User Model

11. User Authentication

12. Bootstrap

13. Password Change and Reset

14. Newspaper App

15. Permissions and Authorization

16. Comments

17. Deployment

18. Conclusion