When building a Django application, you may need to reference configuration variables from settings.py in other parts of your code. One common place is in models.py, where you define your database models. Accessing settings allows you to parameterize aspects of your models. For example, you can define the default database or control auto-created fields like … Read more
As we know, Django provides robust user authentication and authorization tools out of the box. One useful feature is user groups – they allow you to categorize users and control permissions based on those groups. But how do you check if a specific user is in a certain group? There are a couple approaches we … Read more
Django is a powerful web framework for Python that makes it easy to build complex database-backed web applications. One common task is needing to store a list or array of data in a model. There are a few different ways to approach this, each with their own pros and cons. In this post, we will … Read more
When building a Django application, one of the most important considerations is how to securely store sensitive data like passwords, API keys, and other credentials. A common question that arises is whether it is safe to store these secrets as environment variables rather than hardcoding them in config files. In this post, we’ll explore the … Read more
Django‘s reverse() function is incredibly useful for programmatically generating URLs in your views and templates. However, you may sometimes run into the frustrating error “Reverse with arguments ‘()’ and keyword arguments ‘{}’ not found”. In this blog post, I’ll explain what’s causing this error and show you exactly how to fix it. Understanding Django’s Reverse … Read more
Django provides a very convenient way to delete all rows from a database table that is tied to a Django model. While dropping the table and recreating it is an option, Django allows you to truncate the table instead which is faster, especially for large tables. The Django Model and Database Table Relationship First, it’s … Read more
Django provides a way to ensure uniqueness for model fields through the unique=True parameter. However, by default, Django’s unique constraint does not allow multiple NULL-values. So if you want to allow one or more NULL values in a unique field, you need to put in some extra work. In this post, we’ll explore the options … Read more
When you create a model in Django and don’t explicitly define a primary key, Django will automatically add an id field to serve as the primary key. This auto-created id field can generate warnings that many developers find confusing at first. In this blog post, we’ll take a deeper look at these warnings and what … Read more
Django REST Framework makes it easy to quickly build REST APIs for Django models. The ModelSerializer class provides a convenient way to serialize Django models to and from JSON. Often, you may need to add extra fields to the serialized representation that are not part of the model itself. In this post, we’ll explore a … Read more
Django’s powerful ORM allows developers to retrieve data from the database into Python objects called QuerySets. QuerySets have similarities to lists – they are iterable and can contain multiple objects. However, they have some key differences that make them not directly compatible with functions and operations meant for Python lists. Luckily, convertingQuerySets to lists is … Read more
Migrating database schema changes is crucial when developing Django applications over time. Often, you may realize you need to rename a model field to something more appropriate. However, renaming fields isn’t as straightforward as it may initially seem. In this post, we’ll explore how to properly rename fields with South. An Introduction to South South … Read more
When building APIs with Django Rest Framework (DRF), we often need to access details about the currently authenticated user in our serializers and views. DRF provides easy access to the current request in views, but accessing it in serializers requires a small tweak. In this post, we’ll explore a few ways to access the request.user … Read more
SQLAlchemy and Django are both popular Python libraries used for interacting with databases in applications. However, they take different approaches – SQLAlchemy is more focused on providing a SQL toolkit and abstraction layer, while Django includes an object-relational mapper (ORM) and full-featured web framework. This leads to differences in their feature sets. One such example … Read more
When building a Django application that requires storing users’ phone numbers, one decision developers need to make is how to best represent those phone numbers in the database. There are a few different approaches, each with their own pros and cons. In this post, we will compare the options and make a recommendation for the … Read more
In Django, when you retrieve a model instance from the database, it gives you a snapshot of the data at that moment in time. However, if the data gets updated in the database later on, your model instance will still have the old data. Luckily, Django provides an easy way to refresh model instances with … Read more
Migrations are a convenient way to evolve your Django models over time. However, special considerations need to be taken when renaming models or relationship fields. In this post, we’ll explore some strategies to safely handle these changes. Back Up Your Database First and foremost, make sure you have a backup of your database before making … Read more
Django South is a useful database migration library for Django projects. It allows you to evolve your database schema over time through a series of incremental migration files. However, sometimes you may need to perform a backwards migration if you make a mistake or want to revert to an earlier version. Luckily, South makes backwards … Read more
When working with Django, you’ll often encounter the mysterious nested Meta class within your model definitions. What exactly is it, and how does it impact your application? In this comprehensive guide, we’ll demystify the Meta class, explore its purpose, and discuss best practices. What is the Meta Class? Let’s break it down: Why Use the … Read more
As developers, we often find ourselves working with databases to store and retrieve data efficiently. When building web applications using Django, integrating a DB becomes essential. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore how to seamlessly connect MySQL with your Python and Django projects on OSX 10.6. Whether you are a seasoned developer or just starting … Read more
Developing web applications with Django often requires creating administrative user accounts to access the admin site. Manually creating a superuser by running python manage.py createsuperuser and entering credentials can be tedious, especially when setting up new projects or deploying to multiple environments. Thankfully, Django provides ways to automate the process of creating superuser. In this … Read more