Django at the Disco

Django at the Disco
An introduction to the Django Web framework and
how it's used by the Discovery Creative team

Rich Leland
Discovery Creative

@richleland
richard_leland@discovery.com
http://creative.discovery.com

What is ?

• Python Web framework
• Originally developed for The World Company
• Named after jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt
• Released under BSD license in 2005

Who’s using it?

• NASA
• PBS
• Discovery
• National Geographic
• The New York Times
• Broadway
• WNYC
• Google
• LA Times
• LexisNexis

Example project structure
myproject
__init__.py
manage.py
settings.py
urls.py
myapp
__init__.py
admin.py
models.py
urls.py
views.py
static
templates
myproject

Key Features

• Object-relational mapper
• Automatic admin interface
• Elegant, Regex-based URL design
• Template language
• Cache system
• Internationalization
• Community

Object-relational mapper
from django.db import models

class Network(models.Model):
"""
Represents a member of our family of Networks.
"""
visible = models.BooleanField(default=True)
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
slug = models.SlugField(unique=True)
large_logo = models.ImageField(upload_to='ugc/logos/lg/', blank=True)
small_logo = models.ImageField(upload_to='ugc/logos/sm/', blank=True)
link = models.URLField(verify_exists=False, blank=True)

...

# in another file, e.g. views.py:

from myapp.models import Network

Network.objects.all()
Network.objects.get(pk=5)
Network.objects.filter(slug=”some-network”)

Automatic admin interface

class NetworkAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
list_display = ('name', 'admin_logo', 'link', 'visible')

list_filter = ('visible',)

search_fields = ('name',)
prepopulated_fields = {
'slug': ('name',)
}

admin.site.register(Network, NetworkAdmin)

Elegant, RegEx-based URL design

from django.conf.urls.defaults import *

urlpatterns = patterns('',
(r'âdmin/doc/', include('django.contrib.admindocs.urls')),
(r'âdmin/(.*)', admin.site.root),

# included url confs from other apps
(r'âccount/', include('registration.urls')),
(r'^bookmarks/', include('bookmarks.urls')),
(r'^messages/', include('mailer.urls')),

# named url patterns pointing to a view
url(r'^downloads/add/(?P<content_type_id>[d]+)/(?P<object_id>[d]+)/$',
'pressweb.media.views.add_download',
name='add-download'),

url(r'^$',
'pressweb.network.views.region_list',
name='select-region-list'),

)

URL structure breakdown

(r'^admin/doc/', include('django.contrib.admindocs.urls')),
RegEx pattern include of another urls.py

RegEx pattern
url(r'^networks/(?P<object_id>[d]+)/$',
view='myapp.views.network_detail', views.py
name='add-download'), pattern name

Template system

{% extends "base.html" %}
{% load i18n %}

{% block title %}Bookmarks: {% endblock %}
{% block bodyclass %}bookmarks wide{% endblock %}
{% block bodyid %}{{ network.slug }}{% endblock %}

{% block content %}
{% if bookmarks %}
<div class="list-view">
{% for bookmark in bookmarks %}
<div class="item {% cycle 'odd' 'even' %}">
<div class="column1">{{ bookmark.created|date:"F j, Y" }}</div>
<div class="column2">{{ bookmark.title }}</div>
<div class="column3"><a href="{{ bookmark.url }}">Go to Page</a></div>
</div>
{% endfor %}
</div>
{% endif %}
{% endblock %}

Cache system

Site-wide cache
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.middleware.cache.UpdateCacheMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.cache.FetchFromCacheMiddleware',
)

Per-view cache
@cache_page(60 * 15)
def my_view(request):
...

Cache system

Template fragment caching
{% load cache %}
{% cache 500 sidebar %}
.. sidebar ..
{% endcache %}

Low-level cache API
from django.core.cache import cache
cache.set('my_key', 'hello, world!', 30)
cache.get('my_key')

Internationalization

i18n in templates
{% trans "Bookmarks" %}
{% blocktrans %}This object is called {{ obj.name }}{% endblocktrans %}

i18n in modules
from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _

class MyThing(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(_('name'), help_text=_('This is the help text'))

Create message ﬁles (.po), compile them (.mo)
django-admin.py makemessages -l pt_BR
django-admin.py compilemessages

Contrib Apps

• Authentication
• Admin
• Cache
• Comments
• CSRF
• Email
• i18n
• Jython support
• Serialization
• Syndication
• GIS (GeoDjango)

Community

• Core devs actively involved
• Thousands of community-contributed apps
• IRC: #django and #django-dev
• Mailing lists: django-users and django-developers
• Twitter: @djangotracker

Discovery Creative

• In-house ad agency for Discovery and family of
networks
• Established 1996
• 100 strong: design, dev, photo, copy, account
services, motion, prepress, production
• Web team established 2006
• 2 Django devs
• 4 Designers/front-end devs
• 2 Project managers
• 1 QA manager
• Located in Silver Spring & London
• Service all networks and business units globally

How we’re using Django

• Rapid application development
• Combination of B2B, B2C, in-house apps (directory)
• Working with partners (Siemens, AFI/Silverdocs)
• Saving the company money: 2007: $900k, 2008:
$1.5M

Learn more

• docs.djangoproject.com
• djangobook.com
• djangosnippets.org
• Practical Django Projects
• Djangocon: Sept 8-12 in Portland
• django-district.org

Thank you!

Rich Leland
Discovery Creative

@richleland
richard_leland@discovery.com
http://creative.discovery.com

Django at the Disco

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