Welcome

Dear reader,

As a first time author, it is hard to express just how fun it is to write that greeting! Thank you for purchasing the MEAP of Django In Action. This book starts you on your journey with Django, showing you what you need to get a project going, and proceeds all the way to using third-party libraries to enhance your website’s offerings. This book is for developers who are already familiar with Python. A basic understanding of HTML tags will also be beneficial.

Django has been around for over 20 years, and it has been quite the journey. In that time, a ton of features have been added, making Django one of the most comprehensive web framework toolkits available. The book is divided into three parts. The first part gives you a grounding in Django fundamentals and will get you to a place where you can write your own websites. Part 2 is about the many features built into Django meaning you have less code to write. It includes topics such as creating multi-user sites, dealing with user-uploaded content, and writing automated tests. Part 3 introduces you to a variety of third-party libraries that will enable you to write more complex websites. Here you’ll learn about REST APIs, HTMX, custom template tags, and more.