Skip to main content

Understanding Django Design Philosophy

Django is an open-source web framework that is written in Python. It follows the model-view-controller (MVC) architectural pattern and emphasizes reusability and "pluggability" of components, less code, low coupling, rapid development, and the principle of don't repeat yourself (DRY). If you're new to Django, understanding its design philosophy can make your journey much easier. So, let's get started!

What is Django's Design Philosophy?​

Django’s design philosophy is encapsulated in two core principles:

  1. DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself): Django believes in DRY. This means every piece of knowledge must have a single, unambiguous representation within the system.
  2. Explicit is Better than Implicit: Django opts for explicitness in all its functionality. It believes that users should know exactly what’s happening in their application.

Understanding Django Architecture​

Django follows the Model-View-Controller (MVC) design pattern, but it uses slightly different terminology:

  • Model: This is the data access layer. This layer contains anything and everything about the data: how to access it, how to validate it, what behaviors it has, and the relationships between the data.
  • View: This is the user interface layer. This layer contains logic that controls what data is displayed and how it is presented to the user.
  • Controller: Django itself serves as the controller and handles the control flow of the application.

Key Features of Django's Design​

Reusability and "pluggability" of components​

Django emphasizes the reusability and "pluggability" of components. A Django "app" is a self-contained package that can be plugged into any Django project. This allows you to reuse common patterns or move an app between projects without any hassle.

Less Code​

Django aims to make developers write as few code as possible. With Django, a lot of things are already taken care of, so you don't have to reinvent the wheel.

Low Coupling​

Django aims to make each component of the system as independent from the others as possible. This makes it easier to make changes to one component without affecting the others.

Rapid Development​

Django was designed to help developers take applications from concept to completion as quickly as possible.

Django's Approach towards Security​

Django helps developers avoid many common security mistakes by providing a framework that has been engineered to "do the right things" to protect the web application. It has built-in protection for many types of attacks like Cross Site Scripting (XSS), Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF), SQL Injection, and Clickjacking.

Conclusion​

Django's design philosophy and architecture are all about making the life of a web developer easier. It takes care of a lot of the hassle of web development, so you can focus on writing your app without needing to reinvent the wheel. It’s free, open-source, and ridiculously fast to develop with. Happy coding!