Installing Django and starting a project

2 min read Quiz included

1. Create a virtual environment

A virtual environment keeps each project's packages separate. In a terminal:

Terminal

mkdir mysite
cd mysite
python -m venv .venv

Activate it:

Terminal

# Windows (PowerShell)
.venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1

# macOS / Linux
source .venv/bin/activate

Your prompt now starts with (.venv).

2. Install Django

Terminal

python -m pip install django
python -m django --version

3. Start a project

Terminal

django-admin startproject config .

The . at the end creates the project in the current folder. You get:

Diagram

mysite/
├── manage.py          ← run commands for this project
└── config/
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── settings.py    ← all configuration
    ├── urls.py        ← the main URL table
    ├── asgi.py        ← entry points for deployment servers
    └── wsgi.py

Naming the project package config makes its job obvious; many teams use that convention.

4. Run the development server

Terminal

python manage.py runserver

Output

Watching for file changes with StatReloader
Starting development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Quit the server with CONTROL-C.

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ and you'll see Django's welcome page with a rocket. The server reloads automatically when you change code.

5. Set up the database

Django uses SQLite by default, which needs no setup. Create its built-in tables (for users, sessions and the admin):

Terminal

python manage.py migrate

Important settings

A few lines in config/settings.py you'll touch early:

Python

DEBUG = True                 # detailed error pages: never True in production
ALLOWED_HOSTS = []           # domains allowed to serve the site, e.g. ["codemirai.com"]
INSTALLED_APPS = [...]       # the apps that make up the project
TIME_ZONE = "Asia/Kolkata"   # your time zone

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