Django Framework Overview Master Django, the high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. Learn to build secure, scalable web applications with Django's batteries-included approach. Learning Objectives Build full-stack web applications using Django MVC pattern Design and implement database models with Django ORM Implement user authentication and authorization Create RESTful APIs with Django REST Framework Deploy Django applications to production Core Topics 1. Django Basics & Project Structure Django project setup and configuration Understanding MVT (Model-View-Template) pattern URL routing and views Django settings and environment variables Static files and media handling Code Example:

myapp/views.py

from django . shortcuts import render from django . http import JsonResponse from . models import Product def product_list ( request ) : products = Product . objects . all ( ) return render ( request , 'products/list.html' , { 'products' : products } ) def product_api ( request ) : products = Product . objects . values ( 'id' , 'name' , 'price' ) return JsonResponse ( list ( products ) , safe = False ) 2. Django ORM & Database Models Model definition and field types Relationships (ForeignKey, ManyToMany, OneToOne) QuerySets and database queries Migrations and schema management Database optimization (select_related, prefetch_related) Code Example:

models.py

from django . db import models from django . contrib . auth . models import User class Category ( models . Model ) : name = models . CharField ( max_length = 100 ) slug = models . SlugField ( unique = True ) created_at = models . DateTimeField ( auto_now_add = True ) class Meta : verbose_name_plural = "Categories" def str ( self ) : return self . name class Product ( models . Model ) : name = models . CharField ( max_length = 200 ) description = models . TextField ( ) price = models . DecimalField ( max_digits = 10 , decimal_places = 2 ) category = models . ForeignKey ( Category , on_delete = models . CASCADE ) created_by = models . ForeignKey ( User , on_delete = models . SET_NULL , null = True ) is_active = models . BooleanField ( default = True ) created_at = models . DateTimeField ( auto_now_add = True ) updated_at = models . DateTimeField ( auto_now = True ) def str ( self ) : return self . name

Efficient querying

products

Product . objects . select_related ( 'category' , 'created_by' ) . filter ( is_active = True ) 3. Authentication & Authorization User registration and login Password management Session management Permissions and groups Custom user models Social authentication Code Example:

views.py

from django . contrib . auth import authenticate , login , logout from django . contrib . auth . decorators import login_required , permission_required from django . shortcuts import redirect , render def login_view ( request ) : if request . method == 'POST' : username = request . POST [ 'username' ] password = request . POST [ 'password' ] user = authenticate ( request , username = username , password = password ) if user is not None : login ( request , user ) return redirect ( 'dashboard' ) return render ( request , 'login.html' ) @login_required def dashboard ( request ) : return render ( request , 'dashboard.html' ) @permission_required ( 'products.add_product' ) def add_product ( request ) :

Only users with 'add_product' permission can access

return render ( request , 'products/add.html' ) 4. Django REST Framework Serializers and validation ViewSets and routers Authentication (JWT, Token) Permissions and throttling Pagination and filtering Code Example:

serializers.py

from rest_framework import serializers from . models import Product , Category class CategorySerializer ( serializers . ModelSerializer ) : class Meta : model = Category fields = [ 'id' , 'name' , 'slug' ] class ProductSerializer ( serializers . ModelSerializer ) : category = CategorySerializer ( read_only = True ) category_id = serializers . IntegerField ( write_only = True ) class Meta : model = Product fields = [ 'id' , 'name' , 'description' , 'price' , 'category' , 'category_id' , 'created_at' ]

views.py

from rest_framework import viewsets from rest_framework . permissions import IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly class ProductViewSet ( viewsets . ModelViewSet ) : queryset = Product . objects . all ( ) serializer_class = ProductSerializer permission_classes = [ IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly ] def get_queryset ( self ) : queryset = super ( ) . get_queryset ( ) category = self . request . query_params . get ( 'category' ) if category : queryset = queryset . filter ( category__slug = category ) return queryset Hands-On Practice Project 1: Blog Application Build a full-featured blog with user authentication. Requirements: User registration and login Create, edit, delete posts Comments system Categories and tags Search functionality Admin interface Key Skills: Django models, views, forms, authentication Project 2: E-commerce API Create a RESTful API for an e-commerce platform. Requirements: Product catalog with categories Shopping cart management Order processing User authentication with JWT API documentation Rate limiting Key Skills: Django REST Framework, serializers, authentication Project 3: Task Management System Build a collaborative task management application. Requirements: User registration and teams Create and assign tasks Task status tracking File attachments Real-time notifications Permission-based access Key Skills: Complex models, permissions, file handling Assessment Criteria Set up Django projects with proper structure Design normalized database schemas Implement CRUD operations efficiently Secure applications with authentication Build RESTful APIs following best practices Write Django tests (unit and integration) Deploy to production environment Resources Official Documentation Django Docs - Official documentation Django REST Framework - DRF documentation Django Girls Tutorial - Beginner-friendly Learning Platforms Django for Beginners - Book and tutorials Two Scoops of Django - Best practices TestDriven.io - Django with TDD Tools Django Debug Toolbar - Debugging django-extensions - Useful utilities Celery - Async tasks PostgreSQL - Recommended database Next Steps After mastering Django, explore: FastAPI - Modern, fast web framework Celery - Asynchronous task queue Docker - Containerization for deployment AWS/Heroku - Cloud deployment platforms