Book Image

Django 1.1 Testing and Debugging

Book Image

Django 1.1 Testing and Debugging

Overview of this book

Bugs are a time consuming burden during software development. Django's built-in test framework and debugging support help lessen this burden. This book will teach you quick and efficient techniques for using Django and Python tools to eradicate bugs and ensure your Django application works correctly. This book will walk you step by step through development of a complete sample Django application. You will learn how best to test and debug models, views, URL configuration, templates, and template tags. This book will help you integrate with and make use of the rich external environment of test and debugging tools for Python and Django applications. The book starts with a basic overview of testing. It will highlight areas to look out for while testing. You will learn about different kinds of tests available, and the pros and cons of each, and also details of test extensions provided by Django that simplify the task of testing Django applications. You will see an illustration of how external tools that provide even more sophisticated testing features can be integrated into Django's framework. On the debugging front, the book illustrates how to interpret the extensive debugging information provided by Django's debug error pages, and how to utilize logging and other external tools to learn what code is doing.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
Django 1.1 Testing and Debugging
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewer
Preface
Index

Using Apache/mod_wsgi during development


As described throughout this chapter, the switch from using the Django development server to a production server such as Apache with mod_wsgi may run into various snags along the way. Some are easily overcome, others may require more effort. It is often inconvenient to encounter such difficulties late in the development cycle, when there is typically very little time available for making code changes. One way to make the transition smoother is to use a production server configuration during development. This is an idea worth some serious consideration.

One possible objection to using a production server (namely Apache with mod_wsgi) during development is that installing and properly configuring Apache is difficult. Asking individual developers to do this is asking too much of them. Installation, however, is not generally difficult—and most development machines today are easily capable of running Apache without causing any performance impact for other...