Django – What It Is and Why You Should Use It

If you know Python and want to build websites, Django is a solid choice. It gives you ready‑made tools for handling databases, user accounts, and admin panels, so you don’t have to write everything from scratch. This saves time and keeps your code clean. Whether you’re making a blog, an e‑commerce shop, or a data‑driven portal, Django scales well and follows good security practices.

Installation & First Project

First thing: install Python (3.8+ works best) and then run pip install django. The command creates a virtual environment for your project, keeping dependencies tidy. After installation, start a new project with django-admin startproject mysite. This generates a folder with settings, URLs, and a manage script.

Run python manage.py runserver and open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ in your browser. You’ll see the default welcome page – proof that everything is wired correctly. Next, create an app inside the project with python manage.py startapp blog. Apps are reusable pieces that hold models, views, and templates. Define a simple model in models.py, run python manage.py makemigrations and python manage.py migrate to create the database tables.

Hook the app’s URLs into the main urls.py, write a view that returns an HTML template, and you have a working page. The admin interface is enabled automatically – just create a superuser with python manage.py createsuperuser and log in at /admin/. You’ll see a clean dashboard where you can add, edit, or delete data without touching code.

Career & Learning Paths

Knowing Django opens doors to many jobs. Companies of all sizes use it for internal tools, SaaS products, and public sites. Typical titles include Django Developer, Python Backend Engineer, and Full‑Stack Developer. Salary ranges are solid, especially if you combine Django with front‑end skills like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

To level up, focus on three areas: mastering the ORM (Object‑Relational Mapping), learning class‑based views, and understanding middleware. Work on real projects – a personal blog, a small e‑commerce demo, or an API that serves JSON. Deploy your app to a cloud service (Heroku, Render, or AWS) to get familiar with environment variables and static file handling.

There are plenty of free resources. The official Django tutorial walks you through a polling app step by step. Websites like Real Python and Django Girls publish practical articles. If you prefer video, YouTube channels such as Corey Schafer break down concepts in bite‑size chunks.

When you feel confident, contribute to open‑source Django packages. Even a tiny pull request shows employers that you can work with existing codebases. Finally, keep an eye on new Django releases – each version brings performance improvements and new features that keep you ahead of the curve.

Bottom line: Django gives you a powerful, battle‑tested framework that lets you focus on building features instead of plumbing. Install it, spin up a project, and start experimenting. The more you build, the faster you’ll move from beginner to job‑ready developer.