Creating Your First Django App

What is a Django App?

In Django, apps are individual components that help you structure your project into reusable modules. Each app typically handles a specific functionality, such as a blog, user authentication, or a contact form.

Creating a Django App:

Django allows you to modularize your project using apps. Follow the steps below to create an app:

Create an App in the Project Directory

• Open your terminal or command prompt in the root of your Django project.
• Run the following command to create a new app:

python manage.py startapp app_name

Create an App Inside an `apps` Folder

For better project organization, especially in large projects, it's recommended to place all apps inside a dedicated apps folder.

• Inside your Django project directory, create a folder named apps.
• Add an empty `__init__.py` file inside it to mark it as a Python package.
• Then run the command below to create your app inside the `apps` folder:

python manage.py startapp core apps/core

Project structure with apps

apps/core: This directory contains essential app files like apps.py, models.py, views.py, and admin.py, which define the structure and logic of the core app.

manage.py: The command-line utility used to interact with the Django project.

django_tutorials: The main project folder that holds global settings and configurations.

manage.py
│
├───apps
│   └───core
│       ├── admin.py        # Registers models with Django admin
│       ├── apps.py         # App configuration
│       ├── models.py       # Defines the models (database structure)
│       ├── tests.py        # Contains unit tests for the app
│       ├── views.py        # Views handling requests
│       └── __init__.py     # Marks this directory as a Python package
│               
│
└───django_tutorials [Project Folder]

Adding an App to Django's Installed Apps

In Django, apps are added to the project by listing them in the INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py, using their Python module path (e.g., 'myapp'). This tells Django which apps to manage for the project.

Adding a Regular App:

If you create an app directly inside your project (e.g., myapp), add it to INSTALLED_APPS like this:

# Add the app to INSTALLED_APPS in project/settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'myapp',
]

Adding an App from `apps/core` Path:

If your app is located in a nested folder like apps/core, follow these two steps:

Step-1: Add the app path to INSTALLED_APPS in project/settings.py:

# Add the app to INSTALLED_APPS in project/settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'apps.core',
]

Step-2: In apps/core/apps.py, update the name attribute to match the full path:

# apps/core/apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig

class CoreConfig(AppConfig):
    default_auto_field = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'
    name = 'apps.core'

Exercise