Accelerate Django Development with Cookiecutter

As a Django developer, you’ve received a PRD to start building a brand-new product from scratch. Your first task? Project initialization and a deployment checklist. Sounds familiar, right? It's the same routine of configurations you’ve handled in your recent projects, just with a few tweaks for different environment variables. Before you even dive into DB design or project planning, you’re already buried in setup tasks that are prone to errors and misconfigurations when done manually.

But what if there was a tool to make this process easier? A way to streamline your project setup with customizable templates and boilerplate configurations?

Enter Cookiecutter-Django, your ultimate solution.

In this post, we’ll explore how Cookiecutter-Django works, why it’s an excellent choice for developers, and how it can simplify your Django development process. By the end, you’ll be equipped to get your projects up and running quickly, minus the usual hassle.

What Is Cookiecutter-Django?

Cookiecutter-Django is like a magic wand for Django projects. It’s a tool that creates a ready-to-use project for you, following Django best practices. You answer a few questions about what you need, and Cookiecutter-Django sets everything up—databases, settings, and even production configurations. It’s built on top of the popular Cookiecutter templating tool.

This tool is perfect whether you’re working on a small prototype or building something big. It saves time, keeps your projects consistent, and gets rid of the boring, repetitive tasks.

How Does Cookiecutter-Django Work?

It’s pretty simple:

1. Asks for Details: You’ll answer some questions like your project name, whether you want Docker support, and your time zone.
2. Creates Your Project: Based on your answers, it generates a complete project with the right structure and configurations.
3. Installs Tools: It adds the necessary libraries and frameworks.
4. Sets Up Version Control: Optionally, it initializes Git for your project.

Why Should You Use Cookiecutter-Django?

Here are some reasons why Cookiecutter-Django can make your life easier:

1. It Saves Time

Starting a Django project involves a lot of setup. You need to configure databases, handle static files, set up security, and more. Cookiecutter-Django does all this for you, so you can jump straight into writing code for your app.

For example, instead of manually configuring HTTPS or static file storage, Cookiecutter-Django handles it all. You’ll go from “idea” to “project” in minutes.

2. Production-Ready from Day One

Most Django projects need different setups for local development and production. Cookiecutter-Django takes care of this too. It includes settings for local, staging, and production environments, so you don’t have to worry about messing something up when going live.

Some handy features it includes:

• HTTPS: Secure communication is already set up.
• Environment Variables: Secrets like API keys and passwords are stored in .env files, keeping them safe.
• Database Support: Optimized configurations for PostgreSQL, with options to switch to other databases.
• File Handling: Ready-to-use settings for serving static and media files using cloud storage like AWS S3.
• Security Best Practices: Includes protections like CSRF, secure cookies, and strong password validation.

3. It’s Flexible

Cookiecutter-Django isn’t a one-size-fits-all tool. It’s customizable. During setup, you can pick what features you want, like Docker, Celery, or email integrations (e.g., Mailgun). If you don’t need something, just skip it!

Here’s what you can tweak:

• Add or remove features during setup.
• Choose your database (PostgreSQL is the default, but you can switch).
• Add third-party tools like Sentry for error monitoring.

What’s Inside a Cookiecutter-Django Project?

When you use Cookiecutter-Django, it creates a well-organized project structure with lots of useful features:

1. Settings Management
   • Uses Django-Environ to manage environment variables.
   • Has separate settings files for development, staging, and production.
2. Static and Media Files
   • Integrates with WhiteNoise for serving static files.
   • Supports cloud storage for media files.
3. Database
   • Configured for PostgreSQL out of the box but can be customized.
4. Optional Goodies
   • Docker for containerized development.
   • Celery for background tasks.
   • Custom user models for easy extension.

How to Get Started with Cookiecutter-Django

Ready to try it out? Here’s a quick guide to setting up your first project.

Step 1: Install Cookiecutter

Make sure you have Python and pip installed. Then run:

pip install cookiecutter

Step 2: Create a Project

Run this command to start generating your project:

cookiecutter https://github.com/cookiecutter/cookiecutter-django

Step 3: Answer the Questions

Cookiecutter will ask you for some details, like:

• Project name: MyBlog
• Use Docker: y
• Time zone: Asia/Dubai

Once you answer the questions, it’ll create your project folder with everything set up.

Step 4: Install Dependencies

Navigate to your project folder and install the required libraries:

pip install -r requirements/local.txt

If you’re using Docker, start your project with:

docker-compose up

Step 5: Start the Server

Run the Django development server to check everything is working:

python manage.py runserver

Now open your browser at http://127.0.0.1:8000/ to see your project live!

With just a few commands and some quick setup steps, you now have a fully production-ready application. Now you can concentrate on bringing your ideas to life instead of dealing with tedious configurations and setup errors.

Conclusion

Cookiecutter-Django makes starting a Django project simple, fast, and reliable. It handles all the boring setup so you can focus on what matters—building your app. Whether you’re working solo or as part of a team, it helps you save time and keep your projects consistent.

At Kubenine, we take this simplicity even further by using a custom Cookiecutter-Django implementation preloaded with DRF, Docker, Kubernetes, and Terraform configurations, making developer’s lives even easier and ensuring seamless project deployments.

Give it a try with us on your next project and experience the difference!