(String: {%- set hs_blog_post_body -%} {%- set in_blog_post_body = true -%} <span id="hs_cos_wrapper_post_body" class="hs_cos_wrapper hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field hs_cos_wrapper_type_rich_text" style="" data-hs-cos-general-type="meta_field" data-hs-cos-type="rich_text"> <div class="blog-post__lead h2"> <p style="text-align: justify;">Django is used for development of different types of websites, in particular, a highly customisable app, such as a social media website.&nbsp;</p> </div></span>)

What is Django Used For?

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Jakub Protasiewicz

Updated Sep 23, 2022 • 6 min read
When should you use Django?

Django is used for development of different types of websites, in particular, a highly customisable app, such as a social media website.

Django is a free, open source, high-end framework written in the famously simple, flexible, and relatively easy-to-learn Python programming language. Initially released in 2005, it’s used by thousands of programmers every year, owing to its friendliness to beginners and advanced users alike. At the same time, this robust and effective framework is used (and therefore battle-tested) by some of the largest websites in the world. Mozilla uses it for a number of its websites, and it’s also used by Spotify, Pinterest, Instagram, and the Onion, to name just a few. It’s very popular and, crucially, under active development. It doesn’t matter what operating system you’re using, either – Windows, Mac, Linux – it’s all the same to Django.

When it comes to web development, the framework you decide to use is vital. As with all frameworks, Django is best suited to some situations, and less so to others. Read on when Django is the best choice.

What is Django?

Django is one of the free and open-source Python web frameworks. Django follows MVC-MVT architecture pattern and allows users to build securable, clean and maintainable websites. It distinguishes itself among other frameworks because it is fast, includes tons of packages, it is secure, scalable as well as versatile.

This framework provides a powerful and production-ready Automatic administration interface interface that can be used to manage content on a website. It basically reads metadata from the models to provide a quick, model-centric interface that eliminates adding data manually.

Django also offers multilingual support that is used for translating text into different languages. Additionally, it locates-specific formatting of dates, times, numbers, and time zones.

When should you use Django?

Django is built to encourage rapid development and clean, practical design. Like any web application framework, it’s a toolkit of components needed when developing a site. Its purpose is to provide a concrete foundation of the basics, allowing developers to focus on parts of their site that are unique to their project and not waste time with the fundamental boilerplate stuff.

A customisable application

This makes it a good choice when you’re building a highly customisable app, such as a social media website. You don’t have to worry about reinventing the wheel. Just let Django cover the basics, and focus on the unique parts you need to tweak and experiment with, such as the interaction between users, or the ability to share different types of media. In addition to this Django, much the same as Python as a whole, has a strong community-based approach. You can utilise libraries of third-party extensions and plugins to customise your app however you wish.

Web apps with a minimal amount of code

A ‘batteries included’ approach to programming is a hallmark of both Python and Django, and it makes the framework an excellent choice for any developer who wants to build modern and robust web applications with a minimal amount of code. It’s a highly structured framework – it forces you to do things the Django way, rather than your own way.

A site that requires secure foundation

When building a site that requires a strong and secure foundation that protects transactions and sensitive data, such as an ecommerce site, Django is a great framework to use. It hides your source code by default, and it’s often one of the first frameworks to respond to a new vulnerability. It has a solid user authentication model with the ability to configure different users, and its core team also usually alerts other frameworks of patches they should make to maintain security. This all makes Django a very suitable choice when cybersecurity is a top priority.

Applications to scale up in the future

Another area in which Django is used for by many developers is scalability. At its core, Django is just a series of components of Python, wired up and ready to go. Since these components are separate entities, they’re not dependent on each other.


Protasiewicz quote on Django

You can pick and choose, unplug and replace them as and when your site requires. This means you can build it up to whatever level of performance you need your site to be capable of, at any time, without compromising the functionality of the website.

When not to use Django

Django is not necessarily the best framework to use in every instance. While it’s a brilliant foundation for constructing large projects, it’s often overkill for smaller ones. Its heavy, monolithic structure can be a hindrance for developers looking for highly customisable, quicker apps, such as a short script. The strengths of Django lay in its reliable, efficient, architecturally sound, secure nature when building apps on the larger side.

Play to Django’s strengths

We hope we answered your question what is Django used for. Take advantage of Django structured nature and use it to build long-term projects where efficiency of code, data management and security, and an organised system that can scale well over time are your main priorities. If you need a lighter framework better suited to the short-term, it might be best to look elsewhere.

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Jakub Protasiewicz

Engineering Manager
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