A Django project contains the site’s shared configuration, while applications split its functionality into focused, reusable components.
The Difference
Project โ the entire site configuration: settings.py, the main urls.py, wsgi.py.
Application โ a modular component with a specific purpose: models, views, urls, templates.
mysite/ โ PROJECT
โโโ manage.py
โโโ mysite/
โ โโโ settings.py
โ โโโ urls.py
โโโ blog/ โ APPLICATION
โ โโโ models.py
โ โโโ views.py
โโโ shop/ โ APPLICATION
โโโ models.py
โโโ views.py
One project can contain many applications. An application can be reused in another project.
Creating an Application
python manage.py startapp tasks
INSTALLED_APPS โ Registration
Every application must be listed in INSTALLED_APPS; otherwise Django will not recognize it:
# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
# Built-in Django applications
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
# Third-party
'rest_framework',
'crispy_forms',
# Your applications
'tasks',
'blog',
'shop',
]
AppConfig โ Application Configuration
# tasks/apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig
class TasksConfig(AppConfig):
default_auto_field = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'
name = 'tasks'
verbose_name = 'Tasks'
You can explicitly reference it in INSTALLED_APPS:
INSTALLED_APPS = [
'tasks.apps.TasksConfig', # instead of just 'tasks'
]
When to Extract a Separate Application
- Users and authentication โ
accounts - Blog with articles โ
blog - Cart and orders โ
shop - API โ
api
Rule of thumb: if the functionality can be described with a single noun, it is a candidate for a separate application.
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