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Django

Django cheat sheet covering models, views, templates, ORM queries, URL routing, forms, and deployment patterns with code examples.

12 min read
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Setup & Project Structure

Initialize Django projects and understand the structure

Project Setup

Create and configure a Django project

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💡 Always use virtual environments for Django projects
⚡ django-admin for project, manage.py for apps
📌 Keep sensitive settings in .env file
🟢 Run migrations after creating models

Models & ORM

Define database models and work with Django ORM

Model Definition

Create Django models with fields and relationships

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💡 Use related_name for clear reverse relationships
📌 Always define __str__ for readable admin
⚡ Add db_index=True for frequently queried fields
🟢 Use Meta class for ordering and indexes

QuerySet Operations

Database queries with Django ORM

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💡 Use select_related for ForeignKeys
⚡ F expressions avoid race conditions
📌 bulk_create is faster for many records
🔍 Q objects enable complex queries

Views & URLs

Handle requests with views and URL routing

Views

Function and class-based views

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💡 Use CBV for standard CRUD operations
📌 LoginRequiredMixin for auth protection
⚡ Override get_queryset() for filtering
🟢 Function views are simpler for custom logic

URL Configuration

URL patterns and routing

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💡 Use app_name for URL namespacing
📌 Path converters: str, int, slug, uuid
⚡ Include trailing slashes consistently
🟢 Use reverse() for maintainable URLs

Templates

Django template system

Template Syntax

Django template language basics

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💡 Use |default filter for None values
📌 {% empty %} handles empty loops
⚡ Template inheritance with extends
🟢 Always {% load static %} for static files

Forms

Handle user input with Django forms

Forms and ModelForms

Create and validate forms

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💡 clean_<field>() for field validation
📌 clean() for cross-field validation
⚡ Use widgets to customize HTML
🟢 commit=False to modify before saving

Admin Interface

Customize Django admin

Admin Configuration

Register and customize admin

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💡 Use list_editable for inline editing
📌 prepopulated_fields for slug generation
⚡ Custom actions for bulk operations
🟢 format_html for safe HTML in admin

Authentication

User authentication and permissions

User Authentication

Login, logout, and permissions

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💡 Use Django's built-in auth views
🔐 Always hash passwords automatically
📌 LoginRequiredMixin for CBV protection
⚡ @login_required decorator for FBV

Testing

Write tests for Django apps

Django Testing

Unit and integration tests

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💡 Use setUp() for test data
📌 Test both success and failure cases
⚡ Use --parallel for faster tests
🟢 Client() simulates requests

Deployment

Deploy Django to production

Production Deployment

Deploy with gunicorn and nginx

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💡 Use environment variables for secrets
📌 Always collectstatic before deploy
⚡ Use CDN for static files
🟢 Enable caching with Redis

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