July 9th, 2010
Product Description
In Detail
Django is a high-level Python web framework that was developed by a fast-moving online-news operation to meet the stringent twin challenges of newsroom deadlines and the needs of web developers. It is designed to promote rapid development and clean, pragmatic design and lets you build high-performing, elegant web applications rapidly. Django focuses on automating as much as possible and adhering to the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle, making it easier to build high-performance web applications faster, with less code.
This book will show you how to assemble Django’s features and leverage its power to design, develop, and deploy a fully-featured website. It will walk you through the creation of an example web application, with lots of code. Each chapter will add new features to the site, and show what parts of Django to work on to build these features.
This book has been specifically written for Python developers new to Django, and it’s goal is to help you put together Django applications as quickly as possible. This book will give you clear, concise and, of course, practical guidance to take you from the basics of creating pages with Django through to learning the skills that will make you a Django developer to be reckoned with.
What you will learn from this book?
- User registration and management
- Dealing with content customization and searching
- Working with the tag data model
- Creating your own administration interface
- Using AJAX to enhance the user interface
- Building user networks
- Setting up and deploying Django applications on the production web server
Approach
Being a beginner’s guide this book has a very simple and clear approach. It is a practical guide that will help you learn the features of Django and help you build a dynamic website using those features.
Who this book is written for?
This book is for web developers who want to see how to build a complete site with Web 2.0 features, using the power of a proven and popular development system, but do not necessarily want to learn how a complete framework functions in order to do this.
Basic knowledge of Python development is required for this book, but no knowledge of Django is expected.
Diego B. Cassina says:
It’s an okay book, they help you work through a project, but I feel the following book is better if you are just starting off with Django (I bought it today because I feel it is far better):
The Definitive Guide to Django: Web Development Done Right, Second Edition
I plan on returning to Learning Website Development with Django: A beginner’s tutorial to building web applications, quickly and cleanly, with the Django application framework (From Technologies to Solutions)after I finish “The Definitive Guide to Django”.
I will say that it is pretty good in setting up the sqlite database within Django.
Rating: 3 / 5
Willie Pritchett says:
I began searching for a great Python framework and decided that the be way to find the best framework was to try them all and see which one worked best. This lead me to read Learning Website Development with Django by Ayman Hourieh; offered by Packt Publishing.
If you are interested in learning Django, I found that this book is a GREAT place to start. It takes you from installing the framework, all the way through creating a complete social bookmarking application. The book has a great overall pace to it; not too fast nor too slow.
A great aspect of this book was that it took you through the development of an application; from start to finish. As with starting with any new framework, it covered, in depth, the topic that I am generally most intrigued with: User Management and Registration. Django has a built in User Management and Registration system but I believe that it would have been great for the author to extend the default registration system provided.
PROS
* Easy to read
* Provides an easy introduction to Django
* Excellent coverage of Unit Testing and User Registration and Management
* Covers the usage of AJAX with Django
* Full chapter on application deployment
CONS
* Focused on development of one application
* Focuses on the basics of framework
OVERALL
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and feel that it is a fantastic introduction to Django. While it would have been great to show off another application, I feel that the book gave a complete overview of the framework and provides a great foundation and a level of understanding fo building basic applications OR reading more in-depth Django books.
Rating: 5 / 5
Michael Anckaert says:
The Django web framework is one of the rising stars in the world of web frameworks. The combination of an object relational mapper, template system, automatic admin system and elegant URL design make Django a web framework for perfectionists with deadlines.
The latest Django related book from Packt Publishing ‘Learning Website Development with Django’ by Ayman Hourieh is the perfect introduction into website development using the Django framework.
In twelve easy to read chapters the author teaches you the basics of the Django framework using a social bookmarking website as an example. As an added bonus you’ll see how to implement some interesting Web 2.0 features such as tagging, voting and AJAX.
The book is well written and the author has a good grasp of the possibilities of the Django framework. While the book is intended as an introduction into Django and website development, the author doesn’t hide the more complex features from the reader.
Learning Website Development with Django is an excellent introduction into the Django framework and dynamic website development in general. Whether you are taking your first steps into website development or you’re a seasoned PHP veteran who would like to know more about this excellent web framework, this book will give you an excellent start in the world of Django.
Rating: 4 / 5
Andriy Drozdyuk says:
This is a great book for an intro to Django.
If you need to get up and running in Djago in 1-2 weeks and know nothing about it, this book is THE way to go. Fast-paced and not too deep, this is just what I needed.
The last chapter however leaves something to be desired. It is more like a fast-skip-along over all the things that are out there. Granted – helpful for general information, but it just does NOT work for me. After implementing my last chapter in the code – all of my application broke down. I feel that because the book skims over the topics so fast, it should not introduce advanced topics at all.
Also be aware that there are some differences between the book’s trunk version of djano and the current trunk. For example there is no more clean_data, instead we use cleaned_data.
Overall, the book was just RIGHT for the me. Quick introduction to getting the web-framework up and running at the basic level. Must have first-book, for a once over read.
PS: Why, you might ask, I needed to learn Djano in 1-2 weeks? Because django is fun! Or a more realistic answer: I got tired of playing configuration games with php frameworks…
Rating: 4 / 5
Carlos de la Guardia says:
The book is aimed at web developers who are not looking to become experts in the framework, but just want to build a “2.0″ web application quickly and painlessly. It is expected that they know some Python, but no great demands are placed on other previous knowledge.
Like most titles from Packt, the book wastes little time on introductions and quickly dives into the subject matter. The reader is put to work from the very beginning, and by page 20 Django is installed and the first project created and launched. I like this practical approach. All the code is available at the book’s web site, so it’s also easy to follow along.
The book is structured around the development of a social bookmarking application. Without going into too much detail, each chapter introduces the reader to some new Django concepts needed to build specific features into the application. For example, there are chapters focusing on user management, searching, Ajax and administration interfaces.
By the end of the book, the reader has a working application for storing and sharing bookmarks, complete with tags, tag clouds, RSS, Ajax bells and whistles, voting, friend networks and an administrative interface. She also should end up with a good knowledge of what Django can do and how to use its features. A couple of final chapters on deployment and future directions complete the tour and give the reader some insight on what to do next with her newly gained Django proficiency.
Overall, I think the author explains the concepts well enough and achieves his objective of teaching beginners how to build an application with Django. However, if you have a good knowledge of web development and Python, you may find that you need a deeper source of knowledge about Django as a framework.
At just over 200 pages and at a price tag of US $40, I find the book somewhat expensive, but it covers the ground it promises, so if you just want to quickly get going with your “web 2.0″ application, the book could be worth the price.
Rating: 4 / 5