Django Quick Start Guide😎

Before you can create a new Django project, you will need to have the following installed on your system:

• Python: Django is a Python web framework, so you will need to have Python installed on your system. You can check if you have Python installed by running the following command in your terminal:

python --version

If Python is not installed, you can download it from the official Python website at https://www.python.org/.

Create Virtual Environment:

To create a virtual environment for a Django project, follow these steps:

• First, make sure you have Python and pip installed on your system. You can check if you have them by running the following commands:

pip --version

• Once you have Python and pip installed, you can create a virtual environment by running the following command:

python -m venv myenv 
or
py -m venv myenv // Windows OS

• This will create a new directory called "myenv" that contains a Python virtual environment. Replace "myenv" with the name you want to give to your virtual environment.

• To activate the virtual environment, run the following command:
  

source myenv/Scripts/activate

Replace "myenv" with the name of your virtual environment.

Create Django Project:

• Now that your virtual environment is activated, you can install Django using pip:

pip install django

• Once Django is installed, you can create a new Django project by running the following command:

django-admin startproject myproject

• This will create a new directory called "myproject" that contains the skeleton of a Django project. Replace "myproject" with the name you want to give to your project.

At the root of the project, you'll typically find the following files and directories:

• manage.py: A command-line utility that allows you to interact with the project, such as running the development server, creating database tables, and running tests.
• settings.py: Contains the project's configuration, including settings for the database, installed apps, middleware, and other options.
• urls.py: Defines the URL patterns for the project. These patterns map URLs to views, which handle the request and return a response.
• wsgi.py: A file that defines the WSGI application for the project. This file is used to deploy the project to a production server.

• In addition to these files, you'll also typically find a .gitignore file, which tells Git which files and directories to ignore when committing changes to the project.

• To verify that everything is working, you can start the development server by running the following command:
  

python manage.py runserver

This will start the development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/. You should see a page with the message "Welcome to Django".

Deactivate Virtual Env:

• To deactivate a virtual environment in Django, you can use the deactivate command. This command is provided by the venv module, which is included in the Python standard library.
• Here's an example of how to use deactivate to exit a virtual environment:

$ source myenv/Scripts/activate
(myenv) $ # your virtual environment is now active
(myenv) $ # do some work here
(myenv) $ deactivate
$ # your virtual environment is now deactivated

• Alternatively, you can use the exit command to exit the virtual environment. This will deactivate the environment and close the terminal window or shell.

(myenv) $ exit

Keep in mind that the virtual environment must be activated before you can use the deactivate or exit command.

Create an DJango app:

• To create an app in a Django project, you can use the django-admin startapp command. This command creates a new directory with the given app name and generates the basic files needed for a Django app.
• Here's an example of how to use django-admin startapp to create an app called "myapp":

$ django-admin startapp myapp

• This will create a new directory called "myapp" with the following files:

myapp/
├── __init__.py
├── admin.py
├── apps.py
├── migrations/
│   └── __init__.py
├── models.py
├── tests.py
└── views.py

• Once you have created your app, you will need to add it to the INSTALLED_APPS list in your Django project's settings.py file. This will tell Django to include the app in the project.

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'myapp',
]

• Finally, you will need to run the migrate command to create the necessary database tables for your app.

$ python manage.py migrate

This will create the database tables needed for your app, as well as any additional tables needed by Django itself.

I hope this helps!

Thanks!!!