What is Django? A high level python web framework.

Introduction:

Django is a free and open-source web framework written in Python that follows the model-template-view (MTV) architectural pattern. It was first released in 2005 and is widely used for building web applications, content management systems (CMS), and complex database-driven websites.

Django provides a high-level framework for building web applications quickly and easily, while also maintaining flexibility and extensibility. It includes a built-in ORM (Object-Relational Mapping) system for interacting with databases, an automatic admin interface for managing application data, and a templating engine for creating HTML templates.

Some of the key features of Django include:

• Routing and URL management
• Authentication and security
• Session management
• Forms handling and validation
• Internationalization and localization
• Caching and database management

Django is known for its "batteries included" philosophy, meaning it comes with many pre-built components and libraries that make it easy to get started with building web applications. Its popularity is due to its flexibility, ease of use, and comprehensive documentation. Many well-known websites, including Instagram, Pinterest, and Mozilla, have been built using Django.

Here are some basic concepts that you should understand to start development in Django:

1. Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture: Django is built on the Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture, which separates the application's data (models), user interface (views), and control logic (controllers).
2. Models: Django's models define the database schema and are used to interact with the database. You define models in Python code and Django automatically creates database tables based on those models.
3. Views: Views are Python functions that handle incoming requests and return responses. They usually interact with the models to retrieve or update data.
4. Templates: Templates define how data is displayed to the user. They are written in HTML with some additional syntax to access data from views.
5. URLs: URLs map incoming requests to views. You define URL patterns in a separate file called urls.py.
6. Forms: Forms are used to validate user input and update the database. They are defined using Python classes and can be rendered automatically in templates.
7. Admin site: Django comes with an admin site that provides a simple interface for managing data in the database. You can customize the admin site to fit your application's needs.
8. Middleware: Middleware are hooks into the request/response processing pipeline that can modify requests or responses before they are processed by views.
9. Authentication and Authorization: Django provides built-in authentication and authorization mechanisms that allow you to restrict access to certain views or parts of your application.
10. Settings: Django uses a settings module to configure various aspects of the application, such as the database connection, middleware, and installed applications.

These are just a few of the basic concepts that you should understand to start developing in Django. Once you are comfortable with these concepts, you can explore more advanced topics such as caching, security, and deployment.