Learn the differences between Django versions and choose the one that works best for you

With the increasing popularity of web applications, more and more developers are using Python to write web applications. Django is a popular Python web framework that provides powerful features and an easy-to-use API, making writing web applications easier and faster. But for different Django versions, its API and features may be different. Therefore, it is crucial to understand the differences between Django versions and choose the one that suits you best.

Currently, Django has multiple stable and development versions, including versions 1.11, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 3.0 and 3.1. For new users, it is recommended to use the latest stable version 3.1 instead of older versions. Here’s a look at the important differences between the versions and how to choose the one that’s right for you.

1.11 version

Django 1.11 is the last version to support Python 2.7, and its last feature version is 1.11.29. If you must run on Python 2.7, or are forced to use 1.11 due to other dependencies, there are some important differences to know. One of the differences is that when you create a new Django project in 1.11, you need to use the django-admin.py script:

django-admin.py startproject myproject

instead of the one used in newer versions:

django-admin startproject myproject

Additionally, if you encounter errors when running tests on 1.11, please add the following code to the beginning of the settings.py file to turn off the non-Ink Python test warning:

import warnings;
warnings.filterwarnings("ignore", category=DeprecationWarning)

2.0 version

Django 2.0 is the first stable release to require Python 3, and its last feature version is 2.0.13. Compared to 1.11, 2.0 has many important changes. One of the changes is the update of many old Django APIs, such as django.conf.urls.url and django.views.generic.generic_view. This means you have to update your code to the new API.

Another important change is the default use of SQLite 3 as the database backend. If you want to use another database, make sure to install and configure it according to the documentation.

If your application depends on third-party Django applications or libraries, you must check whether they are compatible with version 2.0. If not, you need to update the library or find a replacement library.

2.1 version

Django 2.1 is the first version to require Python 3.5, and its last feature version is 2.1.15. Compared with 2.0, 2.1 has many small functional improvements and fixes, such as better error message handling and improvements in ORM query statements.

An important new feature is Template-based widgets, which allow you to define how form elements are rendered in the template. This feature can make templates clearer and easier to maintain.

2.2 version

Django 2.2 is the first version to require Python 3.6, and its last feature version is 2.2.16. Compared to 2.1, 2.2 has some important changes. One of the changes is an update to Django's built-in JSON serializer. If your application uses Django's JSON serializers, make sure they are compatible with version 2.2.

Another important change is the introduction of regular expression support for language codes. This improvement helps you better verify and process language code.

3.0 version

Django 3.0 is the first version to require Python 3.6 or higher, and its last feature version is 3.0.11. Compared with 2.2, 3.0 has some important changes. One of the changes is the update of some APIs in Django, such as django.urls.path and django.urls.include. These updates make the code clearer and reduce the number of lines of code that need to be written.

Another important change is the default implementation of custom user models. Django now offers better support, making creating custom users easier and more intuitive.

3.1 version

Django 3.1 is the latest stable version, and its last feature version is 3.1.7. Compared to 3.0, 3.1 has many small feature improvements and fixes, such as better ORM functionality and better password security.

An important new feature is support for defining global constants in the Settings class. This feature can make settings files clearer and easier to maintain.

Code Example:

The following is an example of how to use the new URL configuration syntax in Django. This example can help you understand the important changes in Django 2.0.

In Django 1.11, the URL configuration may be similar to this:

from django.conf.urls import url
from myapp.views import my_view

urlpatterns = [
    url(r'^my_url/$', my_view),
]

And in Django 2.0, the URL configuration may be similar to this:

from django.urls import path
from myapp.views import my_view

urlpatterns = [
    path('my_url/', my_view),
]

This syntax is more intuitive And easy to understand, using it can reduce code complexity and error rate.

Summary:

Understanding the differences between Django versions is key to developing great Python web applications. By understanding the new features and changes in each version, you can choose the version that best suits your project and save coding time and effort. Hopefully this article helped you figure out how to weigh the differences between the various Django versions and choose the one that’s best for you.

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