Learning Website Development with Django

Learning Website Development with Django Book Review

Websites are usually visited because of the information they can give. Even in page ranking of Google which indices website according to importance, those websites that provides the most number of articles or has the greatest number of discussions on a single topic wins the keyword familiarity.

But stuffing the website with information is not just placing all the possible information there. Developers has to build a highly interactive website that provides a good looking interface while constantly expecting new information that should be integrated with the online tool.

This is where Django comes in. This framework was specifically built to handle large scale data transfer from its own server or additional resources. In fact, Django was not built for additional functions; the roots of Django could be traced back to the time where it was built as an online application for an online version of the newspaper. The technology eventually improved and could now be used for data intensive online applications.

Although Django has been found to be very effective in handling Data transmission, understanding Django is actually very challenging. Built in Python, Django can only be understood with the use of Python. Without the original language, it cannot stand on its own. Python is a very robust programming language offering complexity while promising security to their users.

That is why Learning Website Development with Django was made. Ayman Hourieh, a former Google employee with extensive background for Python, pieced together this book explaining Django to the developers from the ground up.

The Book

Learning Website Development with Django has 12 chapters each of them discussing a specific topic towards understanding Django:

Chapter 1 introduces the developers to the history of Django. This chapter will also explain why Python is the ideal language in developing Django. The world of Web 2.0 is also further explained in this chapter together with the significance of Django in building Web 2.0 sites.
Read Sample Chapter 
Introduction to Django
Why Django

Chapter 2 guides the developers on how to install Django as well as instructions on building their first project using Django. Online sources and specific commands for triggering general functions are discussed here.

Chapter 3 this chapter discusses specific tasks in building the first Django based application: a social bookmarking software. At the end of this chapter, developers should be able to build the data model, the template to display the application and view functions to retrieve information from its source.

Chapter 4 lets the developers continue their application development of the social bookmarking tool. This time account manager and different managing options, such as online authentication is discussed. Forms related to Django are extensively discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 5 enables the developers further enhance their social bookmarking tool by adding functions that lets users insert tags in their functions. Specific authentication is also discussed this chapter. For the first time, site security is discussed in this book. The attacks discussed are usually related to Ajax.

Chapter 6 discusses the addition of jQuery on Django. An Ajax based application is in the works as the sample application moves to work on client-side of the application. Better interface is achieved in this chapter.

Chapter 7 shows the developers how the application could actually communicate with the same application. Through comments and voting of popular links that were provided by the user, the sample application is molded into a social application.

Chapter 8 looks relatively short as this chapter talks about the administration that comes with Django. Mastering the admin tool is very important as this would help the developer build the application without writing too many codes.

Chapter 9 continues its discussion with the sample project. This chapter will show how developers can add an RSS feed in their social bookmarking application. Advanced search tool is also added to the sample application.

Chapter 10 will enhance the social feature of the application as it shows the developers how the social bookmark can list not only related links and bookmarks but also other users as well. This is a bold move as you’re moving past the social bookmarking service into a social networking application.

Chapter 11 shows the developers how to launch the application as an actual service. But before that, certain topics are discussed such as enabling the application to be translatable as well as caching. Proper configuration of the application is discussed in this chapter as well.

Chapter 12 discusses some topics that were not covered during the development of the application. Topics about security, filters and subscription to the application are discussed here.

Feedback

Clearly, Learning Website Development with Django was made with the understanding that the reader already has a fair familiarization of Python. The main programming language was just used in a backdrop and developers would just have to navigate through Python themselves.

With regards to Django, the writer has successfully shown on how to build a very robust application using only Django. Using additional functions such as jQuery and some commands from Ajax, a very powerful social bookmarking site is built.

However the book just focused on the development of the application. This would require the developers to follow the process one by one and end up with the same application. No diversity is given as developers would just have to stick with the process to the end.

Other topics that are not related to the development of the application are also discussed. Unfortunately, these are only discussed at the end of the book. The book could have discussed more on security. Only two chapters have brushed on the topics of security and they all talk about the problem on cross site scripting.

As we have previously indicated, take note of the administration function of Django. This chapter will help you speed up the process of development of your application.

In the end, this is still a remarkable book. By discussing the development of a single application, this book has virtually tackled almost every concern the developer has with regards to Django. This is a great reference book as it will aid you on how to manually code your application. From installation, configuration and implementation of the application, this book will show you how harness the power of Python and Django to build a very efficient application.

This book is available for purchase at packtpub.com Learning Website Development with Django