How to set up a Django project

xkcd meme on regular repetitive tasks https://xkcd.com/354/

Choose your Python version with pyenv

Pyenv allows you to easily manage multiple Python versions on your system, which is particularly useful when working with different Django projects that require specific versions of Python.

You can easily install pyenv with curl:

curl https://pyenv.run | bash

Then add the following lines to your .bashrc:

export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"
command -v pyenv >/dev/null || export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"
eval "$(pyenv init -)"
eval "$(pyenv virtualenv-init -)"

To use a specific python version for your project, execute

pyenv install 3.11.3
pyenv local 3.11.3

This will create a .python-version file in your project’s director, that specifies the currently used python version. You can verify by executing python --version.

Manage your dependencies with poetry

Dependency management is important because external libraries can change over time, and upgrading them without proper management can potentially crash your application. Poetry incorporates everything you need to isolate your project and manage your dependencies.

You can install poetry outside your project’s directory with

curl -sSL https://install.python-poetry.org | python3 -

Here are some useful commands that you will always come across:

  1. With poetry init you can easily generate a new pyproject.toml file inside the current directory, that keeps track of the project dependencies
  2. With poetry add <package-name> you can add a new package to your pyproject.toml file and immediately install it in your virtual environment
  3. With poetry shell you activate your virtual environment and run it isolated from other projects
  4. With poetry export you can write your dependencies in a format that can be easily installed with pip

🤫 Tip

Create a requirements/ directory to separate development, test and production requirements.

TL;DR

Here is a quick run-through on how to set up a new Django project after having successfully installed pyenv and poetry:

Further Reading

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