What is the Django 6 framework and why should you learn and use it to develop web apps?

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When discussing web development with Python, the name Django almost immediately comes up. For years, this framework has been the foundation upon which secure, scalable, and production-ready applications are built in record time.

As a developer and trainer, Django has shown me that you can create a lot with less code and more structure.

Django is an excellent framework and the most famous, or at least the first one that comes to mind when we talk about Python web development; Django provides everything necessary from the framework's installation to create small or large-scale projects; Django 3 is a powerful framework whose main advantages are:

• Creation of modular applications
• Programming in the multi-purpose Python programming language
• ALL of the Python ecosystem for developing our web apps
• Multiple packages that we can install via pip and use in our project, whether they are Python packages or specifically for Django
• It brings a complete module or application to perform data management, i.e., the famous CRUD
• Easily designing our own friendly URLs
• An effective approach to maintaining project requirements

What is Django and what is it used for?

Django is a high-level web framework for Python that encourages rapid development of secure and maintainable applications. It was created with the idea that developers should focus on their application's logic and not on reinventing what has already been solved.

Now with all the necessary tools ready, let's work with Django, but before that, let's talk a little bit about the framework.

Before continuing, I want to quickly talk to you about why Django and why you should be doing this training.

Basically, I want to talk to you about this technology, which, for me, is my second favorite framework and the first when it comes to Python Web. (My first is Laravel, for all its fascinating features, but Django is not far behind and has many interesting points).

The main feature of Django is that it employs the Python ecosystem, which is excellent. Django is a web framework that we have at our disposal and has very interesting features.

Django is a high-level, server-side web framework created in Python that promotes rapid development, a clean, functional, modular, and scalable design.

Being a web framework with basic features, we can expect to find components in it such as authentication, form handling and validation, an administrative panel, REST resources, route handling and linking, and many other functions.

Key Features of Django

As you can see here on the official page, Django is "ridiculously fast." It's a framework designed for developing applications quickly, and this is because it follows the "batteries included" philosophy.

This means it brings everything necessary for us to develop our applications professionally and as quickly as possible, something similar to what happens with Laravel. Unlike micro-frameworks like Flask or FastAPI, where the application is at its minimum expression and we scale little by little, Django already comes with the essentials.

Although everything has its advantages and disadvantages, these are the most important features:

• Fast and Versatile: It is a quite fast and very versatile framework, again, thanks to it being a Python project.    
• Asynchronous Support: Since version 3 (if my memory serves me right), they added support for asynchronous functions, which is extremely useful for certain developments.    
• Included Components: It has features already included, especially Django Admin, which we will learn about later. I think it is an excellent internal application because we can have automated CRUDs and implement our own in a very simple way.    
• Scalable and Modular: It is scalable and modular (this is what I like most about this type of technology). Everything is based on components, and we can reuse pieces very easily.    

The "Batteries Included" Concept

Here we have the "batteries included" term that I mentioned before. Automatically, with Django, we already have:

• Django Admin: The administration panel that I mentioned.    
• Authentication: A ready-to-use authentication system (sessions, groups, etc.).    
• ORM: The Object-Relational Mapper (ORM), which is the part for communicating with the database.    
• Migration System: For generating the database tables.    
• Security: Includes security features by default, which we will learn more about in detail when working with forms to avoid common problems.    

Support and Non-Disruption

Django is scalable and is always being maintained. A major version usually comes out every one or two years (for example, two years passed from version 5 to 6, which is the current one).

The good thing is that it is not disruptive. That is, the changes are simply of form, new features are incorporated, and some packages are deprecated (obsolete) for security or efficiency reasons, but it does not break our code.

Basically, the same thing we can do in Django 4, we can do in Django 5 and Django 6, except for isolated exceptions. If you are using a feature that was modified, you will have to update it. That's why it's always a good idea to check the release notes (Release Notes or Checklist) on the official page to know exactly what the requirements and changes are.

➕ Additional Scalability

One of the great advantages is its easy scalability. What is not defined by default (for example, a Rest API) can be easily installed.

An excellent package is Django Rest Framework, which we will see in the course and which allows us to create a Rest API with nothing to envy frameworks designed exclusively for that, such as FastAPI.

A Python-based web framework

Django leverages the full power of the Python ecosystem: libraries, tools, and a clean syntax that speeds up development. Since my first installation, I've been surprised by how easy it was to get a functional project up and running with just a few commands.

Django's philosophy: speed, security, and scalability

Django's motto is "The web framework for perfectionists with deadlines," and it lives up to it. It's designed to deliver solid results quickly without sacrificing quality, security, or order.

We are going to talk about other fundamental characteristics of the framework such as:

Quickly, dynamically, and custom creating a management module with the admin app

A Django project comes with several applications, one of the most interesting is the application called admin, which comes free when we create a Django project and has a high level of customization ranging from defining how to present the different CRUD elements, grouping form elements, as well as defining field types, registering related forms, organizing the table or listing, defining filters and search fields, changing the style, and much more to create customized applications for our clients.

MTV for everything

The structure of a Django project is based on the MTV pattern which we discussed in a previous post; therefore, we have a first-rate organization to divide our development into layers or levels:

• Models: represent the data structure.
• Views: contain the business logic.
• Templates: define the presentation to the user.

Thanks to this separation of concerns, Django projects remain organized even as they grow. In my projects, this organization has saved me countless hours of maintenance.

Key features of Django

ORM and automatic migrations

The ORM (Object Relational Mapper) allows interaction with the database without writing SQL. In my case, this allowed me to focus on business logic without worrying about SQL syntax errors.
Migrations automatically update the database every time the models change.

Modular and reusable applications

Django encourages modularity: you can divide your project into small, independent, and reusable applications. This architecture is perfect for teams or large projects.

Thanks to working within a Python ecosystem, it allows us to extend our app through thousands of components or packages that we can quickly install and configure to give our application more features.

We can extend the application in a modular way for easy reuse of these modular components.

Command line and development environment

Its CLI (manage.py) facilitates common tasks: creating users, running migrations, or launching the development server. I personally consider it one of the framework's most productive tools.

We are going to talk about the typical or most used commands in Django; it is not necessary that you know 100% what each one of them works for, if not, that you know their existence and understand each one of them in a basic way.

We have access to create a super user for the application and change its password; superuser that is necessary to enter the dashboard or administrator module for the application:

$ python manage.py changepassword
$ python manage.py createsuperuser

Commands to build projects and apps using the Django wizard:

$ python manage.py startapp
$ python manage.py startproject

To create and run migrations respectively:

$ python manage.py makemigrations
$ python manage.py migrate

Commands to start tests:

$ python manage.py test
$ python manage.py testserver

A command to run the server:

$ python manage.py runserver

Integrated security against common attacks

Django automatically protects against SQL injection, CSRF, XSS, and other attacks. It is a framework designed for enterprise environments, where security is not optional.

The admin app: a ready-to-use panel

One of Django's gems is its administration application.
Since I tried it, it became an ally for managing data without having to build panels from scratch.

Customization and advanced data management

You can define how to display elements, add filters, related forms, and even change the visual style. All with a few lines of code.

Example of real use in professional projects

In several client projects, I've customized the admin to create complete internal panels, saving weeks of development.

Secure Framework

Django, like other frameworks such as Laravel or CodeIgniter or even Flask, is a secure framework; which we owe in large part to its MTV layers, but also to the protection of sensitive elements like passwords using hash; thanks to our ORM, we can also bypass vulnerabilities based on SQL injection, prevent CSRF attacks, and much more.

Scalable

A Django project consists of one or multiple applications, which can easily and securely share resources thanks to the Python ecosystem and again thanks to the layer separation offered by the MTV framework itself.

Portable

Since Python can be executed on the most famous Operating Systems such as Windows, Linux, and MacOs, Django can be executed and developed wherever we want in a simple, configurable, and secure manner.

Advantages of using Django in web projects

Productivity and maintenance

Django allows you to develop fast, but also easily maintain the code. Its conventions and structure prevent long-term chaos.

Active community and long-term support

It has a huge global community and LTS (Long Term Support) versions, which guarantee stability and security updates.

Integration with databases and APIs

It works with MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, or even Oracle. Additionally, it offers native support for REST APIs thanks to Django REST Framework.

Required Software

As fundamental software, we need Python, this is the only program that you have to install on your computer, since it is the programming language in which Django is programmed, and the one that we have to use to create our applications with this framework; the Python website is this:

https://www.python.org/

Python

Before we go any further, let's talk a bit more about Python; Python is a high-level and interpreted programming language, object-oriented and with a very clean, friendly syntax, easy to learn and great readability with a large number of packages, modules, libraries and frameworks at our disposal make it very attractive for rapid application development.

Visual Studio Code

As a code editor, we are going to use Visual Studio Code since it is an excellent editor, with many customization options, extensions, intuitive, lightweight and that you can develop in a lot of platforms, technologies, frameworks and programming languages; so all in all Visual Studio Code will be a great companion for you; but, if you prefer other editors like Sublime Text, or similar, you can use it without any problem.

https://code.visualstudio.com/

Browser

As a web browser, I recommend Google Chrome; although it is true that when developing web technologies, it is advisable to use more than one browser; by developing specifically for the server side and not focusing on client-side development; it doesn't make much sense for this book that you use multiple browsers; that said, you can use any other browser in case Google Chrome is not to your liking.

https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/

Django versus other frameworks (Flask, FastAPI)

When to choose Django

Choose Django if you are looking for speed, security, and scalability. It is ideal for medium to large-scale projects or applications with complex administration panels.

Quick comparison of Python frameworks
Framework    Focus    Ideal for
Django    Full-featured (MTV, ORM, admin, security)    Complex apps, CRUD, CMS
Flask    Minimalist    Small APIs, microservices
FastAPI    Asynchronous and modern    Fast and scalable APIs
Conclusion: why Django remains a safe bet in 2025

Django has not only stood the test of time but has also adapted to the new demands of modern development.
In my experience, it continues to be a robust, practical, and reliable tool for creating professional web applications.
If you are interested in backend development with Python, Django is the ideal starting point.

Frequently Asked Questions about Django

What is Django and what is it used for?
It is a Python web framework designed to create fast, secure, and scalable applications.

Is Django a backend or full-stack framework?
Primarily backend, but it offers everything needed to handle the front-end using templates.

What advantages does Django offer over Flask?
Django is more complete and structured; Flask is lighter and more flexible.

Which companies use Django?
Instagram, Pinterest, Mozilla, and Disqus, among many others.

How to learn Django from scratch?
Start with the official documentation, create your first project, and explore the admin. Practice is key.

With this, you are now ready to create your first Hello World in Django starting with the creation of the virtual environment.