Building a Simple Polling App with Django: Your First Web Project Adventure!

Welcome, aspiring web developers! Today, we’re going to embark on an exciting journey to build a simple web application using Django. If you’ve ever wanted to create something interactive on the web but felt overwhelmed, this guide is for you! We’ll break down each step, explaining everything in simple terms.

What Are We Building Today?

We’re going to create a basic “polling” application. Think of it like a simple survey where people can see a question and, eventually, pick an answer. For this guide, we’ll focus on setting up the project, defining our questions, and displaying them on a web page. It’s a fantastic starting point to understand the fundamentals of web development with Django.

A Quick Chat About Django

Django is a high-level Python web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. What does that mean?
* Web Framework: It’s a collection of tools and guidelines that help you build websites and web applications faster and more efficiently. Instead of writing everything from scratch, Django provides ready-made components for common web tasks.
* High-level: It abstracts away many complex details, allowing you to focus on your application’s unique features.
* Python: It’s written in Python, a popular, easy-to-learn programming language.

Django is often called a “batteries-included” framework because it comes with many features built-in, like an admin interface, an Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) for databases, and a templating system.

What is a Polling App?

A polling app is a web application where users can vote on predefined questions. Imagine a question like “What’s your favorite programming language?” with options like “Python,” “JavaScript,” “Java,” etc. Our app will store these questions and choices, and we’ll learn how to display them on a web page.

Getting Started: Prerequisites

Before we dive into code, make sure you have these things ready:

Python Installed: Django is a Python framework, so you need Python 3 installed on your computer. You can download it from the official Python website.
Command Line Knowledge: We’ll be using your computer’s command line (Terminal on macOS/Linux, Command Prompt or PowerShell on Windows) to run commands. Don’t worry if you’re new to it; we’ll guide you through.

Setting Up Your Development Environment

It’s good practice to create a “virtual environment” for each Django project.

What is a Virtual Environment?

A virtual environment is like a self-contained box for your project’s Python packages (like Django). It keeps your project’s dependencies separate from other Python projects on your computer. This prevents conflicts and makes managing project-specific packages much easier.

Let’s create one:

Open your command line.
Navigate to where you want to store your project. For example, you might create a folder called django_projects.
bash mkdir django_projects cd django_projects
Create the virtual environment:
bash python -m venv myenv
- python -m venv: This command uses Python’s built-in venv module to create a virtual environment.
- myenv: This is the name of our virtual environment. You can call it anything, but myenv or venv is common.
Activate the virtual environment:
- On macOS/Linux:
  bash source myenv/bin/activate
- On Windows (Command Prompt):
  bash myenv\Scripts\activate
- On Windows (PowerShell):
  bash myenv\Scripts\Activate.ps1
  You’ll know it’s active when you see (myenv) at the beginning of your command line prompt.

Installing Django

Now that your virtual environment is active, let’s install Django:

pip install Django

pip: This is Python’s package installer. It’s used to install software packages written in Python.
install Django: This command tells pip to download and install the Django framework into your active virtual environment.

Creating Your First Django Project

A Django project is the main container for your web application. It holds configuration files and one or more “apps.”

Create the Django project:
bash django-admin startproject mysite .
- django-admin: This is Django’s command-line utility for administrative tasks.
- startproject: This command creates a new Django project.
- mysite: This is the name of our project.
- .: This dot is important! It tells Django to create the project files in the current directory (django_projects/ in our example), rather than creating another nested mysite/mysite folder.
After running this, your directory structure should look something like this:
django_projects/ ├── myenv/ ├── mysite/ │ ├── __init__.py │ ├── asgi.py │ ├── settings.py │ ├── urls.py │ └── wsgi.py └── manage.py
- mysite/ (outer): This is your project’s root directory.
- manage.py: A command-line utility that lets you interact with this Django project.
- mysite/ (inner): This contains your project’s actual Python packages and settings.
  - settings.py: Where you configure your Django project (database, installed apps, etc.).
  - urls.py: Where you define URL patterns for your entire project.
Run the development server:
bash python manage.py runserver
This command starts Django’s built-in development web server. It’s super useful for testing your application locally without needing to set up a full-blown web server like Apache or Nginx.

You should see output similar to this:
... Starting development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/ Quit the server with CONTROL-C.
Open your web browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/. You should see a “The install worked successfully! Congratulations!” page. This means Django is running!

To stop the server, go back to your command line and press CTRL+C.

Creating a Django App for Our Poll

In Django, projects are made up of “apps.” An app is a self-contained module that does one thing well, like a blog app, a comments app, or in our case, a polls app. This modularity makes your project organized and reusable.

Create the polls app: Make sure you are in the directory containing manage.py (i.e., django_projects/mysite/).
bash python manage.py startapp polls
This creates a polls directory with its own set of files:
mysite/ ├── polls/ │ ├── migrations/ │ ├── __init__.py │ ├── admin.py │ ├── apps.py │ ├── models.py │ ├── tests.py │ └── views.py ├── mysite/ └── manage.py
- models.py: Where you define your database structure.
- views.py: Where you write the logic for handling web requests and returning responses.
- admin.py: Where you register your models to be accessible via the Django admin interface.
Register the polls app: Django needs to know that your project uses this new app.
Open mysite/settings.py and find the INSTALLED_APPS list. Add 'polls' to it:

“`python

mysite/settings.py

INSTALLED_APPS = [
‘django.contrib.admin’,
‘django.contrib.auth’,
‘django.contrib.contenttypes’,
‘django.contrib.sessions’,
‘django.contrib.messages’,
‘django.contrib.staticfiles’,
‘polls’, # Add your new app here!
]
“`

Defining Our Data: Models

Now it’s time to define what a “question” and a “choice” look like for our poll. In Django, we do this using models.

What are Models?

A model is a Python class that represents a table in your database. It defines the fields (columns) and behaviors of the data you want to store. Django’s built-in Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) handles the communication with the database for you, so you don’t have to write complex SQL queries directly. You interact with Python objects instead!

Open polls/models.py and add the following code:

from django.db import models

class Question(models.Model):
    question_text = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    pub_date = models.DateTimeField('date published')

    def __str__(self):
        return self.question_text

class Choice(models.Model):
    question = models.ForeignKey(Question, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    choice_text = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    votes = models.IntegerField(default=0)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.choice_text

Let’s break down these models:

Question Model:
- question_text: A field to store the actual question, limited to 200 characters (CharField).
- pub_date: A field to store the date and time the question was published (DateTimeField).
- __str__ method: This is a Python special method that tells Django what to display when it needs a string representation of a Question object (e.g., in the admin interface).
Choice Model:
- question: A ForeignKey field. This creates a link between Choice and Question. It means each Choice belongs to a single Question. on_delete=models.CASCADE means if a Question is deleted, all its associated Choices will also be deleted.
- choice_text: The text of the choice itself (e.g., “Yes”, “No”, “Maybe”).
- votes: An IntegerField to store the number of votes for this choice, defaulting to 0.

Creating Database Tables (Migrations)

After defining our models, we need to tell Django to create the corresponding tables in our database. This is done through migrations.

Migrations are Django’s way of propagating changes you make to your models (like adding a field, deleting a model, etc.) into your database schema.

Create migration files:
bash python manage.py makemigrations polls
This command looks at your models.py file, compares it to the current state of your database, and creates migration files (Python files that describe the changes needed). You should see output indicating a 0001_initial.py file was created in polls/migrations/.
Apply migrations to the database:
bash python manage.py migrate
This command applies all pending migrations to your database. It will create the tables for your Question and Choice models, as well as tables for Django’s built-in features (like user authentication).

The Django Admin Interface

Django comes with a powerful, production-ready admin interface automatically generated from your models. It’s a great way to manage data without writing any code.

Create a superuser: This is an administrator account for the Django admin.
bash python manage.py createsuperuser
Follow the prompts to create a username, email, and password.
Register your models with the admin:
Open polls/admin.py and add your models:

“`python

polls/admin.py

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Question, Choice

admin.site.register(Question)
admin.site.register(Choice)
`` This tells the Django admin to display yourQuestionandChoice` models.
Run the server and visit the admin:
bash python manage.py runserver
Open your browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/. Log in with the superuser credentials you just created. You should now see “Questions” and “Choices” under the “POLLS” section, allowing you to add and manage your poll data! Go ahead and add a few questions and choices.

Building Our First View

A view in Django is a Python function (or class) that takes a web request and returns a web response. It contains the logic for what happens when a user visits a particular URL.

Open polls/views.py and let’s create a simple view to display our questions:

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.http import HttpResponse # We'll use this later, but for now we'll use render

from .models import Question

def index(request):
    latest_question_list = Question.objects.order_by('-pub_date')[:5]
    context = {
        'latest_question_list': latest_question_list,
    }
    return render(request, 'polls/index.html', context)

Let’s break this down:

from django.shortcuts import render: render is a helper function that takes the request, a template name, and a dictionary of context variables, and returns an HttpResponse object with the rendered template.
from .models import Question: We import our Question model so we can interact with our database.
index(request): This is our view function. It takes an HttpRequest object (request) as its first argument.
latest_question_list = Question.objects.order_by('-pub_date')[:5]: This is where our ORM comes in handy!
- Question.objects: This is Django’s manager for the Question model, allowing us to query the database.
- order_by('-pub_date'): Sorts the questions by pub_date in descending order (newest first).
- [:5]: Slices the list to get only the latest 5 questions.
context = { ... }: A dictionary that maps context variable names (which we’ll use in our template) to Python objects.
return render(request, 'polls/index.html', context): This tells Django to load the template named polls/index.html, pass it the context dictionary, and return the rendered HTML as the response.

Mapping URLs to Views

How does Django know which view to call when a user visits a specific URL? Through URL patterns!

First, create a urls.py file inside your polls app directory:

touch polls/urls.py

Now, open polls/urls.py and add the following:

from django.urls import path

from . import views

app_name = 'polls' # Helps Django distinguish URL names between different apps
urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.index, name='index'),
]

from django.urls import path: Imports the path function, used to define URL patterns.
from . import views: Imports the views.py module from the current directory.
path('', views.index, name='index'): This defines a URL pattern.
- '': An empty string means this URL pattern will match the root of the app’s URL (e.g., /polls/).
- views.index: Tells Django to call the index function in views.py when this URL is visited.
- name='index': Gives this URL a name, which is useful for referring to it elsewhere in Django (e.g., in templates).

Next, we need to “include” our polls app’s URLs into the main project’s urls.py.
Open mysite/urls.py and modify it:

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import include, path # Make sure to import 'include'

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('polls/', include('polls.urls')), # Include our polls app's URLs here
]

from django.urls import include, path: We added include.
path('polls/', include('polls.urls')): This means that any URL starting with polls/ will be handled by the URL patterns defined in polls/urls.py. So, our index view will be accessible at /polls/.

Creating Our First Template

Our view is now ready to send data to a template. A template is essentially an HTML file that can contain dynamic content using Django’s template language. This allows us to separate our website’s logic (in views) from its presentation (in templates).

Create a templates directory: Inside your polls app directory, create a new folder called templates. Inside templates, create another folder called polls. This nested structure (polls/templates/polls/) is a best practice to prevent naming conflicts with templates from other apps.
bash # In your command line, inside the polls directory: mkdir -p polls/templates/polls
Create index.html:
Inside polls/templates/polls/, create a new file named index.html.

“`html

<!DOCTYPE html>

Our Simple Polls App

Latest Poll Questions
```
{% if latest_question_list %}
    <ul>
    {% for question in latest_question_list %}
        <li>{{ question.question_text }} (Published: {{ question.pub_date }})</li>
    {% endfor %}
    </ul>
{% else %}
    <p>No polls are available.</p>
{% endif %}
```
`` In this template: *{% if latest_question_list %}and{% for question in latest_question_list %}are Django template tags. They allow you to add logic (like if/else conditions and loops) directly into your HTML. *{{ question.question_text }}and{{ question.pub_date }}are template variables. Django replaces these with the actual values from thequestionobject passed in thecontext` dictionary from our view.

Seeing It All Come Together!

Alright, it’s time to test our polling app!

Start your Django development server (if not already running):
bash python manage.py runserver
Open your browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/polls/.

You should now see a list of the questions you added through the Django admin interface! If you added no questions, it will display “No polls are available.”

Congratulations! You’ve successfully built a basic web application with Django, defining models, creating views, mapping URLs, and rendering templates.

Next Steps

This is just the beginning! Here are some ideas to continue expanding your polling app:

Detail View: Create a page for each individual question that shows its choices.
Voting Mechanism: Add forms to allow users to vote on choices and update the votes count.
Results Page: Display the results of a poll, showing how many votes each choice received.
Styling: Make your app look even better with more advanced CSS.

Keep exploring, keep building, and happy coding!

What Are We Building Today?

A Quick Chat About Django

What is a Polling App?

Getting Started: Prerequisites

Setting Up Your Development Environment

What is a Virtual Environment?

Installing Django

Creating Your First Django Project

Creating a Django App for Our Poll

mysite/settings.py

Defining Our Data: Models

What are Models?

Creating Database Tables (Migrations)

The Django Admin Interface

polls/admin.py

Building Our First View

Mapping URLs to Views

Creating Our First Template

Latest Poll Questions

Seeing It All Come Together!

Next Steps

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