[Django] Setting up Django Development Environment in Ubuntu 14.04

 

1. Python

 Of course you will need Python. Still Python 2.7 is preferred, however if you would like to create new projects with Python 3, it is also fine to do.

Newest Python could be downloaded from https://www.python.org/downloads/

2. pip

It is a very powerful tool for installing and managing Python packages. We could use pip to install Django also. To install pip in Ubuntu 14.04, (To upgrade pip: pip install -U pip)

 sudo apt-get install python-pip 

3. Installing Django

It will be very convenient and easy to install Django with the help of pip. Simply use:

 sudo pip install Django==1.7 

(You may refer to www.djangoproject.com/download for more details) Here we install newest Django 1.7 for our projects.

4. IDE

It is optional to prepare an IDE for web development using Django, you may purely use text editors like Vim and commandline to complete all your development. However I would recommend to use an IDE for the ease of life. There are two recommended IDEs:

• PyCharm (http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/)

For PyCharm it has a free community version for Python projects development, also you may either pay or contribute for a standard edition which supports integrated Django development.

• Aptana (http://www.aptana.com)

Aptana is a free IDE which is an extension of Eclipse with PyDev dedicated for Web development. It is completely free and I am currently use it.

Installing Aptana

To install Aptana 3 in Ubuntu, you may directly download it from its official website, and use deb file to install. (Note: it is not recommended to use the newest version, which has some annoying bugs that you need to attend. Refer to this thread.)

Configuring Aptana

You may change the perspective to PyDev for Django development. (Note: There is a known bug for PyDev, that you will have to create and keep an empty PyDev project in your workspace to enable yourself creating Django projects with PyDev.)

Setting up Python Interpreter

5. Git

It is important to make your codes and resources version-controlled if you are in a team or building up a complex system.