Practical Django Projects (Pratical Projects)
| 2008-06-23 00:00:00 | | 0 | Python
Build a django content management system, blog, and social networking site with James Bennett as he introduces the popular Django framework. You?ll work through the development of each project, implementing and running the applications while learning new features along the way.
Web frameworks are playing a major role in the creation of today?s most compelling web applications, because they automate many of the tedious tasks, allowing developers to instead focus on providing users with creative and powerful features. Python developers have been particularly fortunate in this area, having been able to take advantage of Django, a very popular open source web framework whose stated goal is to ?make it easier to build better web applications more quickly with less code.?
Practical Django Projects is the first book to introduce this popular framework by way of a series of real?world projects.
What you?ll learn Capitalize upon Django?s well?defined framework architecture to build web applications faster than ever before. Learn by doing by working through the creation of three real?world projects, including a content management system, blog, and social networking site. Build user?friendly web sites with well?structured URLs, session tracking, and syndication options. Let Django handle tedious tasks such as database interaction while you focus on building compelling applications. Who is this book for?Web developers seeking to use the powerful Django framework to build powerful web sites.
User review
great examples
This is a nice book in that in building the projects, the author throws in large and small `side` details--from how to structure re-usable vs. standalone applications to pluralizing model names when they appear in the admin.
For a busy developer, these tidbits are key. The book is nice complement to Holovaty's Django book. I'm looking forward to the updated book and the release of the code repository.
(As a side note, if you're a drupal developer, definitely give yourself a few hours with this book:)
User review
Out of date in less than a year
This book was published in 2008, when Django was in version 0.96. Almost immediately after publication Django released version 1.0, and the bulk of this book became out of date. Further, neither the author nor the publisher has published any web resources, whether errata, code samples, or a guide to upgrading. Fortunately, there are a smattering of blogs from Django enthusiasts out there, if you can find them, who will walk you through the changes you'll need to make to get the code in this book working. All that being said, this is a well written language guide, probably one of the best I've ever read. So save your money and wait for the second edition, due out sometime in 2009.
User review
The Projects Don't Work
Book seems reasonably well written. I learned some things from the first two chapters but, as other reviewers have noted, Django 1.0 and beyond are not compatible with this book. You can Google around and find how different people solved the incompatibilities, but that's painful and not educational.
Apress needs to issue an errata on their site discussing the changes needed. Until they do this, the book's not awfully useful.
User review
Could be perfect BUT these serious flaws:
1) The code examples don't work with the current version of Django.
2) Despite several references to them in the book (eg p111), there are no source code downloads on the Apress website, period. I have emailed and called Apress customer support and received no reply.
3) Not as serious as the previous issues, but there are virtually no screenshots in the book. Even a few would make the code in the book come alive.
Bottom line: The concept is great. The execution, flawed.
User review
Not for Beginners
Another reviewer noted that this was the perfect book for beginners/newbies. It is not. As stated in the book and on the back cover, it is for intermediate folk.
The book makes quite a few assumptions about the reader's level of Django and development experience, as a result it can be a very frustrating experience for a beginner.
Please also note, as other reviewers have noted, that the book's code examples are for Django .9x (update: written for 0.96) and not for 1.0. Apress, the publisher, has not given any updates to the errata nor do they have the book's source code posted. So, if you are not an intermediate python programmer or an intermediate Django developer, you may find yourself throwing this book or your computer in frustration.
Other than that, if I could just figure out which version of Django it is written for, I would love this book.