=============================================
Advanced tutorial: How to write reusable apps
=============================================

This advanced tutorial begins where :doc:`Tutorial 8 </intro/tutorial08>`
left off. We'll be turning our web-poll into a standalone Python package
you can reuse in new projects and share with other people.

If you haven't recently completed Tutorials 1–8, we encourage you to review
these so that your example project matches the one described below.

Reusability matters
===================

It's a lot of work to design, build, test and maintain a web application. Many
Python and Django projects share common problems. Wouldn't it be great if we
could save some of this repeated work?

Reusability is the way of life in Python. `The Python Package Index (PyPI)
<https://pypi.org/>`_ has a vast range of packages you can use in your own
Python programs. Check out `Django Packages <https://djangopackages.org>`_ for
existing reusable apps you could incorporate in your project. Django itself is
also a normal Python package. This means that you can take existing Python
packages or Django apps and compose them into your own web project. You only
need to write the parts that make your project unique.

Let's say you were starting a new project that needed a polls app like the one
we've been working on. How do you make this app reusable? Luckily, you're well
on the way already. In :doc:`Tutorial 1 </intro/tutorial01>`, we saw how we
could decouple polls from the project-level URLconf using an ``include``.
In this tutorial, we'll take further steps to make the app easy to use in new
projects and ready to publish for others to install and use.

.. admonition:: Package? App?

    A Python :term:`package` provides a way of grouping related Python code for
    easy reuse. A package contains one or more files of Python code (also known
    as "modules").

    A package can be imported with ``import foo.bar`` or ``from foo import
    bar``. For a directory (like ``polls``) to form a package, it must contain
    a special file ``__init__.py``, even if this file is empty.

    A Django *application* is a Python package that is specifically intended
    for use in a Django project. An application may use common Django
    conventions, such as having ``models``, ``tests``, ``urls``, and ``views``
    submodules.

    Later on we use the term *packaging* to describe the process of making a
    Python package easy for others to install. It can be a little confusing, we
    know.

Your project and your reusable app
==================================

After the previous tutorials, our project should look like this:

.. code-block:: text

    djangotutorial/
        manage.py
        mysite/
            __init__.py
            settings.py
            urls.py
            asgi.py
            wsgi.py
        polls/
            __init__.py
            admin.py
            apps.py
            migrations/
                __init__.py
                0001_initial.py
            models.py
            static/
                polls/
                    images/
                        background.png
                    style.css
            templates/
                polls/
                    detail.html
                    index.html
                    results.html
            tests.py
            urls.py
            views.py
        templates/
            admin/
                base_site.html

You created ``djangotutorial/templates`` in :doc:`Tutorial 7
</intro/tutorial07>`, and ``polls/templates`` in
:doc:`Tutorial 3 </intro/tutorial03>`. Now perhaps it is clearer why we chose
to have separate template directories for the project and application:
everything that is part of the polls application is in ``polls``. It makes the
application self-contained and easier to drop into a new project.

The ``polls`` directory could now be copied into a new Django project and
immediately reused. It's not quite ready to be published though. For that, we
need to package the app to make it easy for others to install.

.. _installing-reusable-apps-prerequisites:

Installing some prerequisites
=============================

The current state of Python packaging is a bit muddled with various tools. For
this tutorial, we're going to use :pypi:`setuptools` to build our package. It's
the recommended packaging tool (merged with the ``distribute`` fork). We'll
also be using :pypi:`pip` to install and uninstall it. You should install these
two packages now. If you need help, you can refer to :ref:`how to install
Django with pip<installing-official-release>`. You can install ``setuptools``
the same way.

Packaging your app
==================

Python *packaging* refers to preparing your app in a specific format that can
be easily installed and used. Django itself is packaged very much like
this. For a small app like polls, this process isn't too difficult.

#. First, create a parent directory for the package, outside of your Django
   project. Call this directory ``django-polls``.

   .. admonition::  Choosing a name for your app

       When choosing a name for your package, check PyPI to avoid naming
       conflicts with existing packages. We recommend using a ``django-``
       prefix for package names, to identify your package as specific to
       Django, and a corresponding ``django_`` prefix for your module name. For
       example, the ``django-ratelimit`` package contains the
       ``django_ratelimit`` module.

       Application labels (that is, the final part of the dotted path to
       application packages) *must* be unique in :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`.
       Avoid using the same label as any of the Django :doc:`contrib packages
       </ref/contrib/index>`, for example ``auth``, ``admin``, or
       ``messages``.

#. Move the ``polls`` directory into ``django-polls`` directory, and rename it
   to ``django_polls``.

#. Edit ``django_polls/apps.py`` so that :attr:`~.AppConfig.name` refers to the
   new module name and add :attr:`~.AppConfig.label` to give a short name for
   the app:

   .. code-block:: python
       :caption: ``django-polls/django_polls/apps.py``

       from django.apps import AppConfig


       class PollsConfig(AppConfig):
           name = "django_polls"
           label = "polls"

#. Create a file ``django-polls/README.rst`` with the following contents:

   .. code-block:: rst
       :caption: ``django-polls/README.rst``

       ============
       django-polls
       ============

       django-polls is a Django app to conduct web-based polls. For each
       question, visitors can choose between a fixed number of answers.

       Detailed documentation is in the "docs" directory.

       Quick start
       -----------

       1. Add "polls" to your INSTALLED_APPS setting like this::

           INSTALLED_APPS = [
               ...,
               "django_polls",
           ]

       2. Include the polls URLconf in your project urls.py like this::

           path("polls/", include("django_polls.urls")),

       3. Run ``python manage.py migrate`` to create the models.

       4. Start the development server and visit the admin to create a poll.

       5. Visit the ``/polls/`` URL to participate in the poll.

#. Create a ``django-polls/LICENSE`` file. Choosing a license is beyond the
   scope of this tutorial, but suffice it to say that code released publicly
   without a license is *useless*. Django and many Django-compatible apps are
   distributed under the BSD license; however, you're free to pick your own
   license. Just be aware that your licensing choice will affect who is able
   to use your code.

#. Next we'll create the ``pyproject.toml`` file which details how to build and
   install the app. A full explanation of this file is beyond the scope of this
   tutorial, but the `Python Packaging User Guide
   <https://packaging.python.org/guides/writing-pyproject-toml/>`_ has a good
   explanation. Create the ``django-polls/pyproject.toml`` file with the
   following contents:

   .. code-block:: toml
       :caption: ``django-polls/pyproject.toml``

       [build-system]
       requires = ["setuptools>=77.0.3"]
       build-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"

       [project]
       name = "django-polls"
       version = "0.1"
       dependencies = [
           "django>=X.Y",  # Replace "X.Y" as appropriate
       ]
       description = "A Django app to conduct web-based polls."
       readme = "README.rst"
       license = "BSD-3-Clause"
       requires-python = ">= 3.12"
       authors = [
           {name = "Your Name", email = "yourname@example.com"},
       ]
       classifiers = [
           "Environment :: Web Environment",
           "Framework :: Django",
           "Framework :: Django :: X.Y",  # Replace "X.Y" as appropriate
           "Intended Audience :: Developers",
           "Operating System :: OS Independent",
           "Programming Language :: Python",
           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3",
           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3 :: Only",
           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12",
           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13",
           "Programming Language :: Python :: 3.14",
           "Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP",
           "Topic :: Internet :: WWW/HTTP :: Dynamic Content",
       ]

       [project.urls]
       Homepage = "https://www.example.com/"

#. Many common files and Python modules and packages are included in the
   package by default. To include additional files, we'll need to create a
   ``MANIFEST.in`` file. To include the templates and static files, create a
   file ``django-polls/MANIFEST.in`` with the following contents:

   .. code-block:: text
      :caption: ``django-polls/MANIFEST.in``

      recursive-include django_polls/static *
      recursive-include django_polls/templates *

#. It's optional, but recommended, to include detailed documentation with your
   app. Create an empty directory ``django-polls/docs`` for future
   documentation.

   Note that the ``docs`` directory won't be included in your package unless
   you add some files to it. Many Django apps also provide their documentation
   online through sites like `readthedocs.org <https://readthedocs.org>`_.

   Many Python projects, including Django and Python itself, use `Sphinx
   <https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/quickstart.html>`_ to build
   their documentation. If you choose to use Sphinx you can link back to the
   Django documentation by configuring `Intersphinx
   <https://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/master/usage/quickstart.html#intersphinx>`_
   and including a value for Django in your project's ``intersphinx_mapping``
   value::

        intersphinx_mapping = {
            # ...
            "django": (
                "https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/stable/",
                None,
            ),
        }

   With that in place, you can then cross-link to specific entries, in the
   same way as in the Django docs, such as
   "``:attr:`django.test.TransactionTestCase.databases```".

#. Check that the :pypi:`build` package is installed (``python -m pip install
   build``) and try building your package by running ``python -m build`` inside
   ``django-polls``. This creates a directory called ``dist`` and builds your
   new package into source and binary formats, ``django_polls-0.1.tar.gz`` and
   ``django_polls-0.1-py3-none-any.whl``.

For more information on packaging, see Python's `Tutorial on Packaging and
Distributing Projects
<https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/packaging-projects/>`_.

Using your own package
======================

Since we moved the ``polls`` directory out of the project, it's no longer
working. We'll now fix this by installing our new ``django-polls`` package.

.. admonition:: Installing as a user library

   The following steps install ``django-polls`` as a user library. Per-user
   installs have a lot of advantages over installing the package system-wide,
   such as being usable on systems where you don't have administrator access
   as well as preventing the package from affecting system services and other
   users of the machine.

   Note that per-user installations can still affect the behavior of system
   tools that run as that user, so using a virtual environment is a more robust
   solution (see below).

#. To install the package, use pip (you already :ref:`installed it
   <installing-reusable-apps-prerequisites>`, right?):

   .. code-block:: shell

      python -m pip install --user django-polls/dist/django_polls-0.1.tar.gz

#. Update ``mysite/settings.py`` to point to the new module name::

    INSTALLED_APPS = [
        "django_polls.apps.PollsConfig",
        ...,
    ]

#. Update ``mysite/urls.py`` to point to the new module name::

    urlpatterns = [
        path("polls/", include("django_polls.urls")),
        ...,
    ]

#. Run the development server to confirm the project continues to work.

Publishing your app
===================

Now that we've packaged and tested ``django-polls``, it's ready to share with
the world! If this wasn't just an example, you could now:

* Email the package to a friend.

* Upload the package on your website.

* Post the package on a public repository, such as `the Python Package Index
  (PyPI)`_. There is `a good tutorial
  <https://packaging.python.org/tutorials/packaging-projects/#uploading-the-distribution-archives>`_
  for doing this.

Installing Python packages with a virtual environment
=====================================================

Earlier, we installed ``django-polls`` as a user library. This has some
disadvantages:

* Modifying the user libraries can affect other Python software on your system.

* You won't be able to run multiple versions of this package (or others with
  the same name).

Typically, these situations only arise once you're maintaining several Django
projects. When they do, the best solution is to use :doc:`venv
<python:tutorial/venv>`. This tool allows you to maintain multiple isolated
Python environments, each with its own copy of the libraries and package
namespace.
