In this article, we shall be discussing how to install Django and Flask - two popular web frameworks written in Python.
Perhaps you are already familiar with the widespread usage and community support for Python; in web-development. You might as well be aware as to what a web framework is; and the options available for Python.
In case these assumptions are untrue, you might want to take a look at this wiki article. If you are all caught up, let’s go ahead with setting up Python web frameworks in your local development machine.
But it would be unfair if we completely ignore the Python 2 vs Python 3 debate.
If you do not have Python already installed check out our Python Installation Guide
Virtual environment
Before we install Django we will get you to install an extremely useful tool to help keep your coding environment tidy on your computer. It’s possible to skip this step, but it’s highly recommended. Starting with the best possible setup will save you a lot of trouble in the future!
So, let’s create a virtual environment (also called a virtualenv). Virtualenv will isolate your Python/Django setup on a per-project basis. This means that any changes you make to one website won’t affect any others you’re also developing. Neat, right?
For more information on virtual environments see the relevent section here.
Django
If you have already installed pip then simply:
$ pip install django
After installation it’s complete we can create a new project:
$ django-admin startproject myproject
$ cd myproject
$ python manage.py runserver
Go to http://localhost:8000 !
We have successfully installed the web-framework of our need. However, it’s not yet complete. Most web applications are content and data driven - so we need a data storage. Or, a Database, if you will.
In next article, we would be discussing how to install PostgreSQL and use it with our Python web application.
A point to ponder - we have been using pip heavily, but we have barely said anything about it. Well, for now, it’s just a package manager like npm . It has some differences with npm ; but, you don’t need to worry about that now. If you are interested, do check out the official pip documentation.
If you have suggestions or questions, come join us on gitter .
Flask
Install Flask
$ pip install Flask
After installation create a test file freecodecamp.py :
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route("/")
def hello():
return("Hello FreeCodeCamp!")
Run the flask application.
$ FLASK_APP=freecodecamp.py flask run
To see the freecodecamp.py file in web browser:
Go to http://localhost:5000 and you should see “Hello FreeCodeCamp!”.