Pro Django (Expert's Voice in Web Development) (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: foreign key, django import forms, def wrapper, Marty Alchin, Acme Real Estate, Zen of Python (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Django is the leading Python web application development framework. Learn how to leverage the Django web framework to its full potential in this advanced tutorial and reference. Endorsed by Django, Pro Django more or less picks up where The Definitive Guide to Django left off and examines in greater detail the unusual and complex problems that Python web application developers can face and how to solve them.

• Provides in–depth information about advanced tools and techniques available in every Django installation
• Runs the gamut from the theory of Django’s internal operations to actual code that solves real–world problems for high–volume environments
• Goes above and beyond other books, leaving the basics behind
• Shows how Django can do things even its core developers never dreamed possible

What you’ll learn

• See how to use Django’s models, views, forms, and templates.
• Handle HTTP and customizing back ends.
• Use Django’s common tooling.
• Employ Django in various environments.
• Build a business software suite for use in the corporate world.
• Make this code reusable—even distributable.

Who is this book for?

This book is for companies looking for a framework capable of supporting enterprise needs, as well as advanced Python or web developers looking to solve unusual, complex problems.

About the Apress Pro Series

The Apress Pro series books are practical, professional tutorials to keep you on and moving up the professional ladder.

You have gotten the job, now you need to hone your skills in these tough competitive times. The Apress Pro series expands your skills and expertise in exactly the areas you need. Master the content of a Pro book, and you will always be able to get the job done in a professional development project. Written by experts in their field, Pro series books from Apress give you the hard–won solutions to problems you will face in your professional programming career.

About the Author

Marty Alchin is a seasoned web developer, with prior work ranging from static content to highly dynamic web frameworks. Experience in several languages, both server–side and client–side, has led Marty to a willingness to work in any environment. He is primarily interested in server–side work using Python, preferably with the Django web framework.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1430210478
• ISBN-13: 978-1430210474
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #71,682 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly amazing book for experienced Django developers, February 21, 2009

By	James Turk (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book is best for those that have been using Django for a while and are ready to move to the next level, a lot of this book goes into internals that wouldn't be interesting and would be hard to understand for someone with only a basic knowledge of Python or Django.

This book goes on a chapter-by-chapter tour of all of the major components of Django: models, views and templates, forms, etc. Each chapter is brilliantly structured with a discussion of topics followed by a real world example where the skills covered in that chapter are applied (generally to make something that is fully functional and actually useful: like a new 'PickleField' class in the chapter on models)

It is also worth mentioning that Chapter 2 of this book is perhaps the best overview of 'advanced Python' I've ever seen in print, and by the time I'd read it I'd already improved my code.

Because it may be useful to understand my skill level: I have been using Django for close to two years and have about ten Django projects under my belt and writing Django apps is part of my day job, I've also made minor contributions to django itself. The code that I was writing as I read this book was way better than the code I'd been writing for months, and I also feel a lot more confident in attempting to contribute to Django itself with my much deeper understanding of the internals.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep yet readable. And very useful., January 13, 2009

By	Luciano Ramalho "stand-up programmer" (Sao Paulo, SP Brazil) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I haven't finished reading it, but my first impression of this book is excellent. It does not merely rephrase the official Django docs but goes deeper into it than any other current book, and goes deeper into Python than most Python books. The advanced Python features that make Django tick are clearly explained. I'd give it five stars if covered automated testing and form wizards, two important but tricky Django features that are not so well documented. Highly recommended anyway.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Pro Django" is a perfect title, March 4, 2009

By	Charles Anderson (Willamette Valley, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Pro Django is an excellent book on Django, but it's not for beginners. The term "Pro" gets thrown around a lot, and it gets applied to things that might better be described with "Dummies." This is the Real Mc Coy - it's serious advanced stuff.

The chapters are centered around nice little chunks of the Django system: Models, Views, Forms, Templates, etc. Each chapter is a nice, self-contained bit of Django knowledge, except for Chapter 2, which is a great survey of advanced Python like meta classes. Most chapters also include an Applied Techniques section which gives some examples of how to apply the material in the chapter.

While reading this book, what struck me was how the chapters seem to pack in a level of detail that you'd typically find only in a comprehensive reference, but yet this book is not a bunch of dry reference material, or worse yet, copies of online manuals. The reader gets serious detailed information, but it almost reads like a fluffy tutorial. It's pretty remarkable.

Something that's unique about this book at this time (Q1 2009) is that it covers the 1.0 version of Django. A bunch of the first books on Django were written against 0.96 or earlier. You'd think there wouldn't be much difference (0.04 versions), but the jump to 1.0 was significant for Django. It's nice to have a book that reflects the 1.0 world.