Django Framework Tutorial: Learn with Practical Examples

Django is a Python web framework for building websites with views, URL routes, templates, forms and database models. This guide links the lessons in a practical learning order, starting with a local project and progressing to MySQL-backed pages.

Quick start: create and run a local Django project

 Copypython -m pip install "Django>=5.2,<5.3"
django-admin startproject plus2net_demo
cd plus2net_demo
python manage.py runserver

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ after the server starts. Django includes a development server and uses SQLite by default, so MySQL is not required for the first lessons.

What you will build

• A working project with an application, URL routes and view functions.
• HTML templates that receive safe output from Python views.
• GET/POST forms with validation and protection against cross-site request forgery (CSRF).
• A student database using Django models and migrations.
• A list/detail interface and Django’s administrative interface.

Start here: installation, views and URLs

Begin with Django installation and your first project. That lesson explains virtual environments, manage.py, app creation, views, URLs, templates and the local server.

my_app/views.py

 Copyfrom django.http import HttpResponse

def index(request):
    return HttpResponse("Hello from Django")

my_app/urls.py

 Copyfrom django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [path("", views.index, name="home")]

Forms and user input

After building a view, learn how to collect and validate data. Basic Django forms explains HTML forms, GET versus POST and CSRF tokens; Django form classes covers field-level validation, dropdowns, checkboxes and radio controls.

Read a query parameter in a view

 Copyfrom django.shortcuts import render

def welcome(request):
    name = request.GET.get("name", "Guest")
    return render(request, "welcome.html", {"name": name})

Query strings, templates and static assets

• Query strings — collect optional ?id= and ?name= values and validate them before database use.
• Template for loops — display a list of Python objects with {% for %} and {% empty %}.
• Static files — include CSS, JavaScript, jQuery and Bootstrap with Django’s static-file system.

Models and databases

Build a common Student model in Django and MySQL. The same fields are used in each database lesson, so you can progress without repeatedly changing schema names. You may work with SQLite locally first.

students/models.py — common model across the database tutorials

 Copyfrom django.db import models

class Student(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    cl = models.CharField(max_length=20, db_column="class")
    mark = models.PositiveSmallIntegerField()
    gender = models.CharField(max_length=20)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

Database operations in learning order

• Insert validated form data — save one student safely with ModelForm.
• Insert multiple students — load data efficiently using bulk_create().
• Display and filter records — use all(), filter(), ordering and slicing.
• Linked list/detail pages — route from a student list to a single student record.
• Django admin — create a superuser and manage student records.

A useful Django project structure

Representative project files; Django generates additional support files

 Copyplus2net_demo/
├── manage.py
├── plus2net_demo/
│   ├── settings.py
│   └── urls.py
└── students/
    ├── admin.py
    ├── apps.py
    ├── forms.py
    ├── models.py
    ├── urls.py
    ├── views.py
    └── templates/students/
        ├── student_list.html
        ├── student_detail.html
        └── student_form.html

Version and security notes

These lessons use Django 5.2 LTS with supported Python versions, and focus on a coherent local example project with named URLs, templates and models. Review the official Django 5.2 documentation when applying examples to an existing project.

Suggested learning sequence

Frequently asked questions

Do I need MySQL to learn Django?

No. Django uses SQLite by default. Use SQLite for installation, templates and forms; switch to MySQL when you reach the database connection tutorial.

Should I begin with the admin interface?

Start with installation, URLs, views and models first. The admin becomes more useful after a model exists.

Is this a Google Colab course?

No. Django is best learned as a local multi-file web project with its own development server. The tutorials provide copyable file-by-file examples rather than notebooks.

Back to top ↑

Subhendu Mohapatra

Author & Instructor at plus2net

I write and maintain practical tutorials on Python, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, jQuery, and web development at plus2net. The tutorials focus on clear explanations, working examples, and code that readers can test and adapt while learning.

About the author   Watch on YouTube

Connect: