6 Packages Every Django Developer Must Know

Powered by Cookiecutter, Cookiecutter Django is a project template for jumpstarting production-ready Django projects. The template offers a number of generation options, we invite you to check the dedicated page to learn more about each of them.

• Key Features:
• Quick setup of producion ready Django Applications, with boh local and deployment environments properly configured.
• Easy integration of Docker and Docker Compose during initialization of project.
• Prebuilt User app with all the major authentication features and their corresponding templates.
• Prewritten test cases to get you started, which you can extend to write your own.
• How to Use:

I strongly suggest following their detailed documentation to get up and running!.

Django Extensions is a collection of useful add-ons for Django projects. It provides additional management commands, custom fields, and other utilities that enhance development productivity.

• Key Features:
• Graphical representation of project models using the graph_models command.
• Shell Plus (an enhanced version of the default Django shell) with autoloading of models and other conveniences.
• Various custom fields like UUIDField, JSONField, and IPAddressField.
• How to Use:

Install Django Extensions via pip:

pip install django-extensions

Then add 'django_extensions' to your INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py. You can now use the provided management commands.

Django Rest Framework (DRF) simplifies building RESTful APIs in Django. It offers powerful tools for serialization, authentication, permissions, and viewsets.

• Key Features:
• Serializers for converting complex data types (like Django models) to native Python data types and vice versa.
• Authentication classes (Token, Session, OAuth, etc.) for securing API endpoints.
• Viewsets and routers for creating API views with minimal code.
• How to Use:

Install DRF via pip:

pip install djangorestframework

Create serializers, views, and URLs for your API endpoints. Don't forget to configure authentication and permissions.

Celery is a distributed task queue system for handling asynchronous tasks in Django. It's great for offloading time-consuming processes.

• Key Features:
• Task scheduling and execution (e.g., sending emails, processing images).
• Support for different brokers (RabbitMQ, Redis, etc.).
• Scalability and fault tolerance.
• How to Use:

Install Celery via pip:

pip install celery

Define your tasks, configure Celery settings, and run the Celery worker process.

Sentry is an error tracking and monitoring tool. It helps you identify and fix issues in your Django application.

• Key Features:
• Real-time error notifications via email, Slack, or other channels.
• Stack traces, breadcrumbs, and context information for debugging.
• Integration with popular frameworks and libraries.
• How to Use:

Sign up for a Sentry account, create a project, and follow the installation instructions for Django.

Django-allauth is an authentication and registration package that extends Django's built-in authentication system.

• Key Features:
• Customizable registration forms and views.
• Support for social authentication (OAuth, Google, Facebook, etc.).
• Email confirmation and password reset flows.
• How to Use:

Install Django-allauth via pip:

pip install django-allauth

Configure your authentication settings in settings.py and include the necessary URLs in your project.