Django - Backend Setup Guide

Prerequisites

• Python 3.9 or later installed
• pip (Python package manager)
• venv (included with Python 3.9+)

Setting Up the Project

1. Create a Virtual Environment

• Open your terminal, navigate to your project directory, and run:

  python3 -m venv venv

2. Activate the Virtual Environment

• On macOS/Linux: source venv/bin/activate

• On Windows (Command Prompt): venv\Scripts\activate

• Once activated, your terminal prompt will show a prefix (e.g., (venv)).

3. Install Django

• With the virtual environment activated, install Django:

  pip3 install django

4. Start a Django Project

• Create your Django project (here we name it placement_backend):

  django-admin startproject placemate

5. Create a Django App

• python3 manage.py startapp placemate_app This command creates a new folder named placement containing files such as models.py, views.py, admin.py, and others, which will hold your app-specific code.

6. Run Initial Migrations

• Set up the database by applying initial migrations: python3 manage.py migrate

7. Run the Development Server

• Start the development server to test your project:

  python3 manage.py runserver Open your browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/ to see your Django project in action.

Additional Configuration

Dependency Management: Once all required packages are installed, generate a requirements.txt file: pip3 freeze > requirements.txt

export PATH="/Library/PostgreSQL/17/bin:$PATH" echo 'export PATH="/Library/PostgreSQL/17/bin:$PATH"' >> diretory to venv/activate reload