In this section, we will guide you through the process of setting up your development environment for Django. This includes installing Python, setting up a virtual environment, and installing Django. By the end of this section, you will have a fully functional Django development environment ready for building web applications.

Django is a Python web framework, so the first step is to ensure you have Python installed on your system.

1. Download the latest version of Python from the official website.
2. Run the installer and make sure to check the box that says "Add Python to PATH".
3. Follow the installation instructions.

1. Open Terminal.

2. Use Homebrew to install Python (if you don't have Homebrew, install it from here):

   brew install python
   

1. Open Terminal.

2. Use your package manager to install Python. For example, on Ubuntu:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install python3 python3-pip
   

A virtual environment is a self-contained directory that contains a Python installation for a particular version of Python, plus a number of additional packages.

1. Open your terminal or command prompt.

2. Navigate to the directory where you want to create your project.

3. Run the following command to create a virtual environment:

   python -m venv myenv
   

   Replace myenv with the name you want for your virtual environment.

• Windows:

  myenv\Scripts\activate
  

• macOS and Linux:

  source myenv/bin/activate
  

You should see the name of your virtual environment in the terminal prompt, indicating that it is active.

With your virtual environment activated, you can now install Django.

1. Run the following command to install Django:

   pip install django
   

2. Verify the installation by checking the Django version:

   django-admin --version
   

While you can use any text editor to write Django code, some editors and IDEs offer features that can make development easier. Here are a few popular options:

• Visual Studio Code (VS Code):

  • Download and install from here.
  • Install the Python extension for VS Code.

• PyCharm:

  • Download and install from here.

• Sublime Text:

  • Download and install from here.
  • Install the Anaconda package for Python support.

Now that you have Django installed, you can create your first Django project.

1. Navigate to the directory where you want to create your project.

2. Run the following command to create a new Django project:

   django-admin startproject myproject
   

   Replace myproject with the name you want for your project.

3. Navigate into your project directory:

   cd myproject
   

4. Run the development server to ensure everything is set up correctly:

   python manage.py runserver
   

5. Open your web browser and go to http://127.0.0.1:8000/. You should see the Django welcome page.

Congratulations! You have successfully set up your Django development environment. You installed Python, created and activated a virtual environment, installed Django, set up your text editor or IDE, and created your first Django project. In the next section, we will dive deeper into creating and understanding your first Django project.