Django 4 by Example: Build Powerful and Reliable Python Web Applications from Scratch, Fourth Edition

Learning Django is easier when its parts come together in a working project. In Django 4 by Example, Antonio Melé builds from a practical blog application, using it to show how models, views, templates, URLs, and database queries combine to create a real web application.

The fourth edition moves from core Django foundations into increasingly capable features and related technologies. Rather than treating each topic as an isolated recipe, the book develops applications step by step—making it a useful choice for Python developers ready to put Django concepts into practice.

Start with a working Django project

The opening chapters establish the essentials: setting up a Python environment, installing Django, creating a project and application, designing models, applying migrations, and managing content through Django’s administration site. Readers then work with QuerySets and model managers and build the views, templates, and URLs that bring a blog to life.

Grow the blog beyond its first version

Once the foundations are in place, the example application gains practical additions such as pagination, forms, comments, tagging, recommendations, custom template tags and filters, feeds, and full-text search. Following those changes in context helps connect familiar Django components to the problems they solve in an evolving application.

Explore the wider web-development toolkit

The book also brings Django into contact with technologies and practices used in broader application development. Its coverage includes PostgreSQL, JavaScript, Django REST Framework, Docker, and features for building more capable web projects. The emphasis remains on implementation: readers encounter these tools as part of application-building work, not as a disconnected list of terms.

A practical route into Django 4

This edition is centered on Django 4 and suits Python developers who want a structured, example-led introduction to building web applications. Readers new to Django can follow the progression from setup and fundamentals; those already familiar with the framework may find the later application features and integrations useful for extending their practice.

If you learn best by seeing how a project takes shape one feature at a time, this book offers a hands-on path through Django development—from a simple blog to a more fully featured application.