Django community: RSS
This page, updated regularly, aggregates Community blog posts from the Django community.
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Building a better DatabaseCache for Django on MySQL
I recently released version 0.1.10 of my library django-mysql, for which the main new feature was a backend for Django’s cache framework called MySQLCache. This post covers some of the inspiration and improvements it has, as well as a basic benchmark against Django’s built-in DatabaseCache. TL;DR - it’s better than DatabaseCache, and if you’re using MySQL, please try it out by following the instructions linked at the end. Why bother? Django’s cache framework provides a generic API for key-value storage, and gets used for a variety of caching tasks in applications. It ships with multiple backends for popular technologies, including Redis and Memcached, as well as a basic cross-RDBMS DatabaseCache. The DatabaseCache is recommended only for smaller environments, and due to its supporting every RDBMS that Django does, it is not optimized for speed. Redis and Memcached are the most popular cache technologies to use, being specifically designed to do key-value storage; you could even say Django’s cache framework is specifically designed to fit them. If they work so well, why would anyone bother using DatabaseCache, and why would I care about improving on it? Well, I have a few reasons: Fewer moving parts If you can get away with … -
Adding Maintenance Data pt 1
Join us as we continue building our product by starting to allow our users to add bike maintenance records to their bikes.Watch Now... -
Markup Language Faceoff: Lists
Today I want to talk about lists. Not for shopping, not the programming data type, but the display of items in both unordered and ordered fashion. Specifically this: Item A Item B First Numbered Inner Item Second Numbered Inner Item Item C In other words, lists of bullets and numbers. This article explores some of the different tools used by the programming world to render display lists, specifically HTML, reStructuredText, Markdown, and LaTeX. HTML If you view the HTML source of this web page, you'll find this: <ul class="simple"> <li>Item A</li> <li>Item B<ol class="arabic"> <li>First Numbered Inner Item</li> <li>Second Numbered Inner Item</li> </ol> </li> <li>Item C</li> </ul> Or more clearly: <ul class="simple"> <li>Item A</li> <li>Item B <ol class="arabic"> <li>First Numbered Inner Item</li> <li>Second Numbered Inner Item</li> </ol> </li> <li>Item C</li> </ul> This works, but is incredibly verbose. HTML requires closing tags on every element. Working with lists in HTML becomes tedious quickly. Which is why so many people use WYSIWYG tools or mark up languages like reStructuredText and Markdown, as it expedites creation of lists (and many other things). reStructuredText This blog is written in reStructuredText and transformed into HTML. Let's see the markup for this blog post: * Item … -
Markup Language Faceoff: Lists
Today I want to talk about lists. Not for shopping, not the programming data type, but the display of items in both unordered and ordered fashion. Specifically this: Item A Item B First Numbered Inner Item Second Numbered Inner Item Item C In other words, lists of bullets and numbers. This article explores some of the different tools used by the programming world to render display lists, specifically HTML, reStructuredText, Markdown, and LaTeX. HTML If you view the HTML source of this web page, you'll find this: <ul class="simple"> <li>Item A</li> <li>Item B<ol class="arabic"> <li>First Numbered Inner Item</li> <li>Second Numbered Inner Item</li> </ol> </li> <li>Item C</li> </ul> Or more clearly: <ul class="simple"> <li>Item A</li> <li>Item B <ol class="arabic"> <li>First Numbered Inner Item</li> <li>Second Numbered Inner Item</li> </ol> </li> <li>Item C</li> </ul> This works, but is incredibly verbose. HTML requires closing tags on every element (keep in mind browsers are not the same as specifications). Working with lists in HTML becomes tedious quickly. Which is why so many people use WYSIWYG tools or mark up languages like reStructuredText and Markdown, as it expedites creation of lists (and many other things). reStructuredText This blog is written in reStructuredText and transformed into HTML. … -
Q2 2015 ShipIt Day ReCap
Last Friday everyone at Caktus set aside their regular client projects for our quarterly ShipIt Day, a chance for Caktus employees to take some time for personal development and independent projects. People work individually or in groups to flex their creativity, tackle interesting problems, or expand their personal knowledge. This quarter’s ShipIt Day saw everything from game development to Bokeh data visualization, Lego robots to superhero animation. Read more about the various projects from our Q2 2015 ShipIt Day. -
Django Proxy Model Relations
I've got lots of code I'd do a different way if I were to start over, but often, we have to live with what we have. One situation I would seriously reconsider is the structure I use for storing data related to how I interact with external systems. I have an `Application` object, and I create instances of this for each external system I interact with. Each new `Application` gets a UUID, and is created as part of a migration. Code in the system uses this UUID to determine if something is for that system. But that's not the worst of it. I also have an `AppConfig` object, and other related objects that store a relation to an `Application`. This was fine initially, but as my code got more complex, I hit upon the idea of using Django's Proxy models, and using the related `Application` to determine the subclass. So, I have `AppConfig` subclasses for a range of systems. This is nice: we can even ensure that we only get the right instances (using a lookup to the application to get the discriminator, which I'd probably do a different way next time). However, we also have other bits of information … -
Interactive Data for the Web by Sarah Bird (PyCon 2015 Must-See Talk: 3/6)
Part three of six in our PyCon 2015 Must-See Series, a weekly highlight of talks our staff enjoyed at PyCon. Sarah Bird’s talk made me excited to try the Bokeh tutorials. The Bokeh library has very approachable methods for creating data visualizations inside of Canvas elements all via Python. No javascript necessary. Who should see this talk? Python developers who want to add a beautiful data visualization to their websites without writing any javascript. Also, Django developers who would like to use QuerySets to create data visualizations should watch the entire video, and then rewind to minute 8:50 for instructions on how to use Django QuerySets with a couple of lines of code. -
Cakti Comment on Django's Class-based Views
After PyCon 2015, we were surprised when we realized how many Cakti who attended had all been asked about Django’s class-based views (CBVs). We talked about why this might be, and this is a summary of what we came up with. -
Things going on
We are currently in a maintenance and cleanup phase of Evennia, where bugs are found and reported and things are getting more and more stable as people learn and use the new features we merged a few months back.Overall though I must say the relatively big changes we did to the infrastructure (making Evennia into a full library and making a complete overhaul of the typeclass system behind the scenes) went over with surprising smoothness. There were a flurry of things to fix immediately after the devel-branch merger but no more than expected. For the big changes it really worked very well I think, with no big disaster stories. We have a few bugs lingering in the issue tracker that need to be addressed but nothing show-stopping. I have been a bit busy with various projects off-MUD so to speak. I was contracted for making the cover and illustration for a book (this is not hobby art for once, but a professional commission which I was quite excited to be asked to do). I also author and draw a fantasy comic as part of another project.I've not been slacking off on on the MUD side though: I have written and … -
Use closure for your Django context processors
The idea with template context processors in Django is to inject some defaults thing to be available when rendering a template that is rendered with a request. I.e. instead of...: def view1(request): context = { 'name': 'View 1', 'on_dev_server': request.get_host() in settings.DEV_HOSTNAMES } return render(request, 'view1.html', context) def view2(request): context = { 'name': 'View 2', 'other': 'things', 'on_dev_server': request.get_host() in settings.DEV_HOSTNAMES } return render(request, 'view2.html', context) And in your nominal templates/base.html you might have something like this: ... <footer> <p>&copy; You 2015</p> {% if on_dev_server %} <p color="red">Note! We're currently on a dev server!</p> {% endif %} </footer> ... Instead you do this trick; in your settings.py you write down the list of defaults plus the one you want to always have available: TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = ( "django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth", "django.template.context_processors.static", "myproject.myapp.context_processors.debug_info", ) And to accompany that you define your myprojects/myapp/context_processors.py like so: def debug_info(request): return { 'on_dev_server': request.get_host() in settings.DEV_HOSTNAMES, } So far so good. However, there's a problem with this. Two problems in fact. First problem is that when all the templates in your big complicated website renders, it's quite possible that some pages don't need everything you set up in your context processors. That might mean a heck of a … -
Use closure for your Django context processors
The idea with template context processors in Django is to inject some defaults thing to be available when rendering a template that is rendered with a request. I.e. instead of...: def view1(request): context = { 'name': 'View 1', 'on_dev_server': request.get_host() in settings.DEV_HOSTNAMES } return render(request, 'view1.html', context) def view2(request): context = { 'name': 'View 2', 'other': 'things', 'on_dev_server': request.get_host() in settings.DEV_HOSTNAMES } return render(request, 'view2.html', context) And in your nominal templates/base.html you might have something like this: ... <footer> <p>&copy; You 2015</p> {% if on_dev_server %} <p color="red">Note! We're currently on a dev server!</p> {% endif %} </footer> ... Instead you do this trick; in your settings.py you write down the list of defaults plus the one you want to always have available: TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = ( "django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth", "django.template.context_processors.static", "myproject.myapp.context_processors.debug_info", ) And to accompany that you define your myprojects/myapp/context_processors.py like so: def debug_info(request): return { 'on_dev_server': request.get_host() in settings.DEV_HOSTNAMES, } So far so good. However, there's a problem with this. Two problems in fact. First problem is that when all the templates in your big complicated website renders, it's quite possible that some pages don't need everything you set up in your context processors. That might mean a heck of a … -
Looking for Senior/Mid-Level Developers to Change the World!
2degrees, the world's leading collaboration platform for sustainable business, are currently looking for disciplined software developers to build and maintain Python/Django applications. We're fundamentally looking for team players who are able to produce well-crafted software (e.g., elegant design, self-explanatory code), whether or not they have prior experience with our stack (which we'd consider a big plus). To learn more about the software that we build, have a look at the Free Software projects that we host on our GitHub account. Recent projects include hubspot-contacts and python-recaptcha. Telecommuting 2-3 days a week is possible, as long as the successful candidates are able to work in our Oxford office the rest of the time. To learn more about these vacancies, head over to our careers page. -
Django Performance: 4 Simple Things
Django Performance: 4 Simple Things -
Two Scoops of Django 1.8 is Out!
I'm pleased to announce the "Early Release" of the Two Scoops of Django: Best Practices for Django 1.8 PDF ebook. Co-authored with Audrey Roy Greenfeld, the 1.8 edition of Two Scoops of Django is filled to the brim with knowledge to help make Django projects better. We introduce various tips, tricks, patterns, code snippets, and techniques that we've picked up over the years. What we didn't know or weren't certain about, we found the best experts in the world and asked them for the answers. Then we packed the result into a 500+ page book. What's Next? We'll be adding more material to the 1.8 edition in the near future, hence the term, "Early Release". Everyone who buys the 1.8 ebook from us gets all 1.8 ebook updates. Once we're happy with the ebook, we'll release a print paperback edition, scheduled for mid-to-late May. We'll have a ebook/print bundle. If you buy the Early Release ebook from us, you qualify for the bundle. Order You can purchase the "Early Release" Two Scoops of Django: Best Practices for Django 1.8 PDF ebook at the Two Scoops Press store. -
Two Scoops of Django 1.8 is Out!
I'm pleased to announce the "Early Release" of the Two Scoops of Django: Best Practices for Django 1.8 PDF ebook. Co-authored with Audrey Roy Greenfeld, the 1.8 edition of Two Scoops of Django is filled to the brim with knowledge to help make Django projects better. We introduce various tips, tricks, patterns, code snippets, and techniques that we've picked up over the years. What we didn't know or weren't certain about, we found the best experts in the world and asked them for the answers. Then we packed the result into a 500+ page book. What's Next? We'll be adding more material to the 1.8 edition in the near future, hence the term, "Early Release". Everyone who buys the 1.8 ebook from us gets all 1.8 ebook updates. Once we're happy with the ebook, we'll release a print paperback edition, scheduled for mid-to-late May. We'll have a ebook/print bundle. If you buy the Early Release ebook from us, you qualify for the bundle. Order You can purchase the "Early Release" Two Scoops of Django: Best Practices for Django 1.8 PDF ebook at the Two Scoops Press store. -
Wagtail 1.0 (beta) best Django CMS?
Wagtail 1.0 (beta) best Django CMS? -
Newsletter #4
Welcome to the latest news about Two Scoops Press, PyDanny (Daniel Roy Greenfeld), and Audrey Roy Greenfeld (audreyr). Two Scoops of Django 1.8 Early Release Is Out The impossible has happened. We've decided to revise, update, and expand Two Scoops of Django for the Django 1.8 Long Term Support release. Today you can purchase the early release PDF. In mid to late May, we plan to release the print paperback version. Two Scoops of Django 1.8 Early Release PDF in our shop If you have any questions, please read the Two Scoops of Django FAQ. Into the Brambles Is Out In case you missed the news, Daniel's first fiction book is now out on Amazon. It's a dark epic fantasy novel titled Into the Brambles about the adventures of two brothers who grow apart, a goblin who rises to be king, and a noble woman who makes her own destiny. You can read more about Into the Brambles on Daniel's fiction blog. 2014-2015 Python/Django Community Efforts Here's a recap of our volunteer work. Open Source A number of the open-source projects that we maintain have reached important milestones. Cookiecutter, the popular cross-platform project templating tool created by Audrey, had its … -
Newsletter #4
Welcome to the latest news about Two Scoops Press, PyDanny (Daniel Roy Greenfeld), and Audrey Roy Greenfeld (audreyr). Two Scoops of Django 1.8 Early Release Is Out The impossible has happened. We've decided to revise, update, and expand Two Scoops of Django for the Django 1.8 Long Term Support release. Today you can purchase the early release PDF. In mid to late May, we plan to release the print paperback version. Two Scoops of Django 1.8 Early Release PDF in our shop If you have any questions, please read the Two Scoops of Django FAQ. Into the Brambles Is Out In case you missed the news, Daniel's first fiction book is now out on Amazon. It's a dark epic fantasy novel titled Into the Brambles about the adventures of two brothers who grow apart, a goblin who rises to be king, and a noble woman who makes her own destiny. You can read more about Into the Brambles on Daniel's fiction blog. 2014-2015 Python/Django Community Efforts Here's a recap of our volunteer work. Open Source A number of the open-source projects that we maintain have reached important milestones. Cookiecutter, the popular cross-platform project templating tool created by Audrey, had its … -
Newsletter #4
Welcome to the latest news about Two Scoops Press, PyDanny (Daniel Roy Greenfeld), and Audrey Roy Greenfeld (audreyr). Two Scoops of Django 1.8 Early Release Is Out The impossible has happened. We've decided to revise, update, and expand Two Scoops of Django for the Django 1.8 Long Term Support release. Today you can purchase the early release PDF. In mid to late May, we plan to release the print paperback version. Two Scoops of Django 1.8 Early Release PDF in our shop If you have any questions, please read the Two Scoops of Django FAQ. Into the Brambles Is Out In case you missed the news, Daniel's first fiction book is now out on Amazon. It's a dark epic fantasy novel titled Into the Brambles about the adventures of two brothers who grow apart, a goblin who rises to be king, and a noble woman who makes her own destiny. You can read more about Into the Brambles on Daniel's fiction blog. 2014-2015 Python/Django Community Efforts Here's a recap of our volunteer work. Open Source A number of the open-source projects that we maintain have reached important milestones. Cookiecutter, the popular cross-platform project templating tool created by Audrey, had its … -
Two Scoops of Django 1.8 is Out!
I'm pleased to announce the "early release" of the Two Scoops of Django: Best Practices for Django 1.8 PDF ebook. Co-authored with Audrey Roy Greenfeld, the 1.8 edition of Two Scoops of Django is filled to the brim with knowledge to help make Django projects better. We introduce various tips, tricks, patterns, code snippets, and techniques that we've picked up over the years. What we didn't know or weren't certain about, we found the best experts in the world and asked them for the answers. Then we packed the result into a 500+ page book. What's Next? We'll be adding more content to the 1.8 edition in the near future, hence the term, "early release". Everyone who buys the 1.8 ebook from us gets all 1.8 ebook updates. Once we're happy with the ebook, we'll release a print paperback edition, scheduled for mid-to-late May. We'll have a ebook/print bundle. If you buy the early release ebook from us, you qualify for the bundle. Order You can purchase the "early release" Two Scoops of Django: Best Practices for Django 1.8 PDF ebook at the Two Scoops Press store. -
PyCon 2015 Talks: Our Must See Picks (1/6)
Whether you couldn’t make it to PyCon this year, were busy attending one of the other amazing talks, or were simply too enthralled by the always popular “hallway track”, there are bound to be talks you missed out on. Thankfully, the PyCon staff does an amazing job not only organizing the conference for the attendees and the days of the conference, but also by producing recordings of all the talks for anyone who couldn’t attend. Even if you attended, you couldn’t have seen every talk, so these recordings are a great safety net. -
Why did Caktus Group start Astro Code School?
Our Astro Code School is now officially accepting applications to its twelve-week Python & Django Web Development class for intermediate programmers! To kick off Astro’s opening, we asked Caktus’ CTO and co-founder Colin Copeland, who recently won a 2015 Triangle Business Journal 40 Under 40 Leadership Award, and Astro’s Director Brian Russell to reflect on the development of Astro as well as the role they see the school playing in the Django community. -
Release 0.10.0
We just released LFS 0.10.0. Changes Adds Django 1.8 support Information You can find more information and help on following locations: Documentation on PyPI Demo Releases on PyPI Source code on bitbucket.org and github. Google Group lfsproject on Twitter IRC -
Caktus Group's Colin Copeland Recognized Among TBJ’s 40 Under 40
Caktus co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Colin Copeland, is among an outstanding group of top business leaders to receive the Triangle Business Journal’s 2015 40 Under 40 Leadership Award. The award recognizes individuals for their remarkable contributions to their organizations and to the community. -
PyCon 2015 ReCap
The best part of PyCon? Definitely the people. This is my fifth PyCon, so I’ve had a chance to see the event evolve, especially with the fantastic leadership of Ewa Jodlowska and Diana Clarke. We were also lucky enough to work with them on the PyCon 2015 website. This year we were once again located in the Centre-Ville section of Montreal, close to lots of great restaurants and entertainment. Mark Lavin, David Ray, and Caleb Smith arrived before the official start of the conference to host a workshop on “Building SMS Applications with Django.” As avid users of RapidSMS for many of our of projects, including UNICEF’s Project Mwana and the world’s first SMS voter registration app for Libya, it was a great experience to share our knowledge. We also had a chance to work with future Django developers through the DjangoGirls Workshop this year. Karen Tracey, David Ray, and Mark Lavin served as mentors to help the mentees build their first Django app. It was wonderful to watch new programmers develop their first apps and we are looking forward to participating in similar events in the future. The conference kicked off Thursday night with a reception where we debuted …
