Despite going quiet about it here, I am still learning as much as I can with a bit of programming and web development, and 90% of that is me wrestling with Django still. The main problem I’m having so far is getting my head around the structure, and the way each part of it passes data to the other, but through sheer repetition (and error) I’m getting the hang of it.
I’ve been working through the excellent tutorials at the official Django site and djangobook.com, but the problem I’ve had is relating what I’m doing during those tutorials to what I’d actually be using it for. To remedy that situation I’ve started to build something a bit more practical than a simple blog or a polls page, namely a club management suite for the martial arts club I train at (well, used to before my son arrived, I’m a stranger to the place at the moment.)
Choosing something along these lines means I can plan out what I want to accomplish in the outset and build those things, part by part – or to use Django terms – app by app. I’ve started out with the Members before I move onto the schools, before I decide to try something more front-end, like live attendance tracking.
So what have I actually *done* for all of this talking and gesturing? Not that much to be honest, finding the time is hard at the moment, my evenings are largely monopilsed by baby-related chores. Having said that, I have managed this lot so far:
- Defined my Members app models with all the various pieces of information I think I’m likely to need.
- Installed an add-on for Django called django-evolution (although South looks like it’s used more) to edit the database tables I’d created in step 1 above, when I realised I hadn’t thought of all the information I’d need.
- Enabled and customised the Admin pages. I can actually enter information into the database, woohoo!
- Created a very basic views.py and urls.py for both the main index and the members index.
Yeah, not much to write home about, but I’m pleased so far. It means I have an underlying database for the Members and calls to pages to get to the guts of what’s there. Next up is to make some proper views and URLConfs to be able to display the members in all their various guises, to add the clubs and get the many-to-one relationships set up with the members, and then to start tarting it all up with a little css.
Fun – if very confusing – times!