Django Project Structure Explained: Key Folders and Files

Django

Learn how a Django project is structured, from key folders like 'settings' and 'urls' to important files that keep your web app running smoothly. This guide walks you through the architecture of a Django project, helping developers better understand how to organize and navigate their projects efficiently. Below is the project structure that we’ll be using throughout this guide.

Project Structure

- core/: 
    - settings.py
    - urls.py
    - wsgi.py

- app/: 
    - models.py
    - views.py
    - urls.py
    - admin.py
    - sitemaps.py

- tailwind/:

- templates/:
    - base.html
    - blog/post_list.html
    - blog/post_detail.html
    - robots.txt

- static/: 
    - css/:
        - styles.css

- media/:
    -  blog_images/:

- manage.py

- requirements.txt

Django Project Structure: A Basic Overview

When you create a new Django project, Django automatically generates a specific structure of folders and files. Each of these plays an important role in how the project functions:

1. Project Root Directory: This is the top-level folder, named after your project. Inside, you’ll find:

    - manage.py: A command-line utility that lets you interact with your Django project. You’ll use it to 
        run the development server, create apps, and perform migrations.

2. Project Package Directory (core): This folder contains key settings and configurations for your Django 
    project. Inside, you’ll find:

    -  __init__.py: An empty file that tells Python to treat this directory as a package.

    - settings.py: This file contains all the configurations for your project, such as installed apps, 
        middleware, databases, and templates.

    - urls.py: This file maps URLs to the appropriate views. It acts as the "table of contents" for your web 
        app’s navigation.

    - wsgi.py: This file is used for deploying the project to a production server using WSGI (Web Server 
       Gateway Interface).

    - asgi.py: Similar to wsgi.py, this file is used for asynchronous deployment with ASGI (Asynchronous 
      Server Gateway Interface).

3. App Directories(app): When you create an app within your project, Django generates another 
    directory structure inside the project. A typical app structure includes:

    - migrations/: This folder stores database migration files, which track changes to the database 
      schema over time.

    - admin.py: Here you can register models to appear in the Django admin interface.

    - apps.py: This file contains app-specific configurations.

    - models.py: Here you define the database models, which represent your app's data structure.

    - views.py: This is where you define the logic that handles user requests and returns responses 
      (typically HTML pages or JSON).

    - urls.py: Some apps define their own URL routing by including a separate urls.py file.

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