Dev Web & SaaS

Python Django Full Stack Simply Explained (with Diagrams and Real Code)

Python Django Fullstack: The Essentials in One Article — Real Code, Diagrams and Concrete Steps, Excerpts from a 24-Lesson Course.

REHOUMA Haythem

12 Jun 2026 • 11 min read

A guide that gets straight to the point: Python Django Fullstack broken down with diagrams, concrete examples and tested commands. Everything comes from a structured 8-chapter course — here are the highlights.

tl;dr

Why Django
Models and migrations
Views and URLs
Templates and forms
Admin

~$ cat ./parcours.md # Python Django Fullstack — 8 chapters

Why Django

→ Django vs Flask vs FastAPI→ Installation et premier projet+ 1 more lessons

Models and migrations

→ Models et fields→ Relations+ 1 more lessons

Views and URLs

→ Function-based views→ Class-based views (CBV)+ 1 more lessons

Templates and forms

→ Template language→ Forms et ModelForms+ 1 more lessons

Admin

→ Customizer ModelAdmin→ Actions et filters custom+ 1 more lessons

Authentication

→ User model et auth views→ Custom User et Profile+ 1 more lessons

Deployment

→ Settings prod/dev→ Gunicorn + Nginx+ 1 more lessons

Final project blog ecom

→ Chapter 07 – Final project : Models and admin→ Chapter 07 – Final project : Views and templates+ 1 more lessons

🏁

Final project

→ You leave with a concrete and demonstrable project

Migrations

Basic cycle

output

# 1. Modify a model
class Article(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    summary = models.TextField(blank=True)         # NEW

# 2. Generate the migration
python manage.py makemigrations
# Migrations for 'blog':
#   blog/migrations/0002_article_summary.py

# 3. Apply
python manage.py migrate

# 4. Verify
python manage.py showmigrations

View the generated SQL

output

python manage.py sqlmigrate blog 0002

# Output :
# BEGIN;
# ALTER TABLE blog_article ADD COLUMN summary TEXT NOT NULL DEFAULT '';
# COMMIT;

Revert a migration

output

python manage.py migrate blog 0001
# Revert to 0001 (undoes 0002)

python manage.py migrate blog zero
# Cancel everything for the blog app

Data migration

output

python manage.py makemigrations --empty --name backfill_slugs blog

# Edit the generated file:
from django.db import migrations
from django.utils.text import slugify

def backfill_slugs(apps, schema_editor):
    Article = apps.get_model("blog", "Article")
    for a in Article.objects.all():
        if not a.slug:
            a.slug = slugify(a.title)
            a.save()

def reverse_func(apps, schema_editor):
    pass

class Migration(migrations.Migration):
    dependencies = [("blog", "0001_initial")]
    operations = [migrations.RunPython(backfill_slugs, reverse_func)]

Squashing migrations

output

# After many migrations, compact them:
python manage.py squashmigrations blog 0001 0020

# Creates 0001_squashed_0020 that replaces the 20 files
# New developers avoid running 20 migrations

Migrations without downtime

NOTETo add a NOT NULL column without breaking production:

Deploy 1: Add nullable column
Deploy 2: Backfill via data migration
Deploy 3: Update code to use/set the column
Deploy 4: ALTER NOT NULL migration

Rename a model

output

# If you rename Article -> Post, Django will suggest
# creating a new model + deleting the old one (data loss!)

# Solution: edit the generated migration
operations = [
    migrations.RenameModel("Article", "Post")
]

# Same for fields
operations = [
    migrations.RenameField("Post", "summary", "excerpt")
]

Django vs Flask vs FastAPI

NOTEGoal — Understand Django's philosophy and when to choose it.

Quick comparison

Criterion	Django	Flask	FastAPI
Philosophy	Batteries included	Micro framework	API first, async
ORM	Built-in	External SQLAlchemy	External SQLAlchemy
Admin	Auto-generated	Must be coded	Must be coded
Auth	Complete	Extensions	JWT must be coded
Templates	Django templates	Jinja2	Jinja2 optional
Native async	Partial (4.x)	No	Yes
Learning curve	Longer	Very simple	Medium

When to choose Django

When NOT to choose Django

MTV architecture

output

+----------+   request    +------+   query   +-------+
|  Browser | -----------> | View | --------> | Model |
+----------+              +------+           +-------+
     ^                       |                   |
     |                       v                   v
     |                  +----------+         +-------+
     +----------------- | Template |<--------|  DB   |
                        +----------+         +-------+

# M = Model (ORM, database)
# T = Template (HTML)
# V = View (control logic, equivalent to Controller in MVC)

Django ecosystem

Versions and LTS

NOTEDjango releases:

Django 5.0+ : current
Django 4.2 LTS : supported until 2026
Cycle: new version every 8 months
LTS every 2 years, supported for 3 years

Companies using Django

Summary

NOTEKey takeaways

Django = batteries included for complex web apps
MTV architecture (Model, Template, View)
Ideal for: SaaS, CMS, e-commerce, dashboards
Pure API: prefer DRF or FastAPI

Chapter 07 – Final project: Models and admin

Requirements

NOTEGoal — Build a minimalist online store with: catalog, cart, orders, business admin.

Project structure

output

myshop/
  manage.py
  myshop/
    settings/
    urls.py
    wsgi.py
  accounts/
    models.py            # Custom User
    views.py
    urls.py
  catalog/
    models.py            # Category, Product
    views.py
    admin.py
  cart/
    cart.py              # Cart class (session)
    views.py
  orders/
    models.py            # Order, OrderItem
    views.py
    admin.py
  templates/
  static/
  media/

accounts/models.py

output

from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractUser
from django.db import models

class User(AbstractUser):
    phone = models.CharField(max_length=20, blank=True)
    address = models.TextField(blank=True)
    city = models.CharField(max_length=100, blank=True)
    postal_code = models.CharField(max_length=10, blank=True)
    country = models.CharField(max_length=2, default="CA")
    
    class Meta:
        ordering = ["-date_joined"]
    
    def __str__(self):
        return self.username

catalog/models.py

output

from django.db import models
from django.urls import reverse
from django.utils.text import slugify

class Category(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100, unique=True)
    slug = models.SlugField(max_length=120, unique=True)
    description = models.TextField(blank=True)
    parent = models.ForeignKey("self", null=True, blank=True,
                                on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name="children")
    
    class Meta:
        verbose_name_plural = "Categories"
        ordering = ["name"]
    
    def __str__(self): return self.name
    
    def get_absolute_url(self):
        return reverse("catalog:category", kwargs={"slug": self.slug})

class Product(models.Model):
    category = models.ForeignKey(Category, on_delete=models.PROTECT, related_name="products")
    name = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    slug = models.SlugField(max_length=220, unique=True)
    description = models.TextField()
    price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2)
    image = models.ImageField(upload_to="products/%Y/%m/")
    stock = models.PositiveIntegerField(default=0)
    available = models.BooleanField(default=True)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
    
    class Meta:
        ordering = ["-created_at"]
        indexes = [
            models.Index(fields=["slug"]),
            models.Index(fields=["available", "-created_at"]),
        ]
    
    def __str__(self): return self.name
    
    def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
        if not self.slug:
            self.slug = slugify(self.name)
        super().save(*args, **kwargs)
    
    def get_absolute_url(self):
        return reverse("catalog:product", kwargs={"slug": self.slug})
    
    @property
    def in_stock(self):
        return self.available and self.stock > 0

orders/models.py

output

class Order(models.Model):
    class Status(models.TextChoices):
        PENDING = "pending", "Pending"
        PAID = "paid", "Paid"
        SHIPPED = "shipped", "Shipped"
        DELIVERED = "delivered", "Delivered"
        CANCELED = "canceled", "Canceled"
    
    user = models.ForeignKey("accounts.User", on_delete=models.PROTECT, related_name="orders")
    status = models.CharField(max_length=20, choices=Status.choices, default=Status.PENDING)
    address = models.TextField()
    city = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    postal_code = models.CharField(max_length=10)
    country = models.CharField(max_length=2)
    total = models.DecimalField(max_digits=12, decimal_places=2, default=0)
    paid_at = models.DateTimeField(null=True, blank=True)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    
    class Meta:
        ordering = ["-created_at"]
    
    def __str__(self): return f"Order #{self.id}"

class OrderItem(models.Model):
    order = models.ForeignKey(Order, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name="items")
    product = models.ForeignKey("catalog.Product", on_delete=models.PROTECT)
    price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2)
    quantity = models.PositiveIntegerField(default=1)
    
    @property
    def subtotal(self): return self.price * self.quantity

catalog/admin.py

output

@admin.register(Category)
class CategoryAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ["name", "parent", "product_count"]
    prepopulated_fields = {"slug": ("name",)}
    search_fields = ["name"]
    
    def product_count(self, obj):
        return obj.products.count()

@admin.register(Product)
class ProductAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ["name", "category", "price", "stock", "available"]
    list_filter = ["available", "category", "created_at"]
    list_editable = ["price", "stock", "available"]
    search_fields = ["name", "description"]
    prepopulated_fields = {"slug": ("name",)}
    list_per_page = 50

orders/admin.py

output

class OrderItemInline(admin.TabularInline):
    model = OrderItem
    extra = 0
    readonly_fields = ["product", "price", "quantity", "subtotal"]
    can_delete = False

@admin.register(Order)
class OrderAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ["id", "user", "status", "total", "created_at", "paid_at"]
    list_filter = ["status", "created_at"]
    search_fields = ["id", "user__username", "user__email"]
    inlines = [OrderItemInline]
    actions = ["mark_shipped"]
    date_hierarchy = "created_at"
    
    @admin.action(description="Mark as shipped")
    def mark_shipped(self, request, queryset):
        queryset.update(status=Order.Status.SHIPPED)

go-further

This article covers the most useful excerpts — the complete Python Django Fullstack course (8 chapters, 24 lessons, corrected exercises and final project) takes you all the way.

./access-the-full-course free course: Vibe Coding

FAQ

How long does it take to learn Python Django Fullstack?

With a structured progression (8 chapters, 24 short practical lessons), you reach an operational level in a few weeks at 30–60 minutes per day. The key is to practice each concept immediately.

Are there any prerequisites?

Basic computer knowledge is enough. If you can use a terminal and read simple code, you're ready.

Where to start concretely?

Reproduce the commands in this article, then follow the complete Python Django Fullstack course: it chains the 24 lessons in order, with exercises and a final project.

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Migrations

Basic cycle

View the generated SQL

Revert a migration

Data migration

Squashing migrations

Migrations without downtime

Rename a model

Django vs Flask vs FastAPI

Quick comparison

When to choose Django

When NOT to choose Django

MTV architecture

Django ecosystem

Versions and LTS

Companies using Django

Summary

Chapter 07 – Final project: Models and admin

Requirements

Project structure

accounts/models.py

catalog/models.py

orders/models.py

catalog/admin.py

orders/admin.py

FAQ

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