Technical requirements
Whether you are using a Windows, Mac, or Ubuntu system, Python will need to be installed. Python version 3.9.0 is the latest version available at the time of writing this book. It is highly likely that this code will still work with future versions of Python but there is no guarantee that all of the code will continue to work and there could be some hiccups in future versions. You can find the Python installation files for all platforms on their website here: https://www.python.org/downloads/. For non-Windows users, the most straightforward way of installing Python is with Homebrew, which creates for you a symlink to the package that you installed.
For Windows users, an easy way to install Python is through the Microsoft Store. Search for Python and select 3.9 from the list. During installation, if you see the Add Python to Environment Variables option, select the checkbox to include it! This sets a path to your global library of Python packages/libraries on your development machine. These are different from the packages that are included in your project, which we will discuss in Chapter 2, Project Configuration.
A command-line tool is needed to execute commands that interact with and use Django. PowerShell is a common command-line shell that comes standard in Windows today. This command-line utility comes packed with some of the coolest features from an assortment of other existing shells, all merged into one. It is also available on the Mac and Linux operating systems. However, iTerm2, or the built-in Terminal app, is what most developers tend to gravitate toward using. Regardless, PowerShell has become a popular tool used by many developers for automating the management of various systems today.
You will also need to install the PIP Python Package Manager, if it was not already installed during your Python installation. Starting with Python 3.4 and after, pip is included by default with the Python binary installers; thus, it is likely it was already installed on your machine. If Python was installed using Homebrew, then pip is not included, and you will need to install it separately. Install pip via the official installation guide found here: https://pip.pypa.io/en/stable/installation/. Since this is a package manager, it is likely that any version of pip in the future will continue to work with the rest of the code and concepts discussed in this book. However, not every third-party package discussed in this book is guaranteed to be supported in the future by that provider. Regardless, the concepts of using a third-party package and how they would be configured and used in a project are taught in this book and can be used to find a package of your own.
Tip
Whatever operating system you are working on, if you get an error message while working with any command throughout this book, such as pip/python is not recognized as an internal or external command, it means that you need to configure environment variables on your system to point to the corresponding file directories. To manually configure your environment variables in any of the three major platforms, visit these links:
• Windows: https://phoenixnap.com/kb/windows-set-environment-variable
• macOS: https://phoenixnap.com/kb/set-environment-variable-mac
• Ubuntu: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/EnvironmentVariables
If a command is not recognized as an internal or external command, you may need to add the path to where that item was installed on your machine. In Windows, this is commonly the Path variable. For example, if python is not recognized as a command, add the path to where Python was installed on your machine to your global Path variable in Windows. The same applies to Linux or Mac but is most commonly a problem on Windows.
All of the code created and used in this book can be found here: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Becoming-an-Enterprise-Django-Developer. This chapter doesn't actually dive into any code at this time. However, for those of you who are already familiar with Django or are new to Django who have already read through Chapter 2, Project Configuration, and come back to this chapter, an app called chapter_1 is included with the code of this book to demonstrate a diagramming package introduced in the subsection titled Entity relationship diagrams of this chapter.
Check out the following video to see the Code in Action: https://bit.ly/3OfagBj.