The Django databrowse application is an interesting piece of software that I've wanted to try out ever since its creator, Adrian Holovaty, demoed it in Vancouver last year. Its purpose is to allow you to navigate data, using a web interface, looking for trends and other interesting aspects.
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Vancouver Django Meetup
The first monthly meeting of the new Vancouver Django group took place today. Good times and Django lore abounded. Want to come to the next one? Check out the Meetup page.
State of Django Pluggable Applications
Click here to view/download a PDF of my presentation for Open Web Vancouver 2008.
Installing Django on Centos 5
In preparing to upgrade this server to Centos 5.x, I did a test install of the Centos "Server" configuration using VirtualBox. The "Server" configuration comes with Apache 2.x, Python 2.4, and mod_python pre-loaded.
Installing Django
Here are the commands needed to install the latest version of Django:
Using Django's New Form Engine
The Django web framework's new form engine (not yet released, but available from the project's Subversion repository: see the Django installation page) eliminates much of the pain in creating and updating data submitted by users.
As an example I've written a Django app using a design pattern that is likely to be familiar to those coming from a PHP background.
This simple example allows the creation, updating, and deletion of contacts.
Project Setup
Start a project named 'myproject' and, within the project, an application named 'contacts'.
$ django-admin.py startproject myproject $ cd myproject $ python manage.py startapp contacts $ mkdir html
Four Exciting Django Developments
On day 2 of the Vancouver Django Jam I got a chance to meet the Django web framework's lead developer Adrian Holovaty and get the scoop on the latest developments in Django (including the generation of end-user interfaces to data!).
Revamped Form Engine
Django's biggest improvement (currently available only via Subversion) is the revamping of the form engine. While the previous form engine required tedious additions to templates (to deal with validation errors and the like), the new incarnation does it all for you, creating all form HTML and allowing form definitions to be generated from models. This is a big deal as it will greatly improve the speed of Django development.
Vancouver Django Jam
Yesterday afternoon, when saner souls were watching the SuperBowl, Paul Prescod and I presented introductions to the Django web framework at the kickoff of Vancouver's first public Django-centric event: Vancouver Django Jam. My presentation "Basic CRUD in Django" (which is designed to show neophytes the hard, but conceptually familiar, way of doing things) can be downloaded here as a PDF, here in Apple Keynote format, or here online.
Django Gaining Ground in Vancouver
Interest in the Django web framework in Vancouver seems to be growing. The Vancouver Python and Zope Users Group held a meeting last Tuesday where Paul Prescod, Dethe Elza, and I gave presentations on various facets of Django development. In addition, the Django Book is attracting interest for its collaborative proofing model.
Django Theme for Apple Keynote
How not to spend a Saturday night: creating a Django theme for Apple Keynote.
If you anticipate making a presentation about the Django web framework, consider using my theme (3 MB ZIP archive) to show your audience you mean bidniz.
The overall look was based on Django desktop graphics.
