Django

Pictured: Our library of reference books at Caktus cover topics including Django and Python, as well as project management and Agile methodologies.

As part of our work to make sharp web apps at Caktus, we frequently create API endpoints that allow other software to interact with a server. Oftentimes this means using a frontend app (React, Vue, or Angular), though it could also mean connecting some other piece of software to interact with a server. A lot of our API endpoints, across projects, end up functioning in similar ways, so we have become efficient at writing them, and this blog post gives an example of how to do so.

It's been awhile since we last discussed bulk inserts on the Caktus blog. The idea is simple: if you have an application that needs to insert a lot of data into a Django model — for example a background task that processes a CSV file (or some other text file) — it pays to "chunk" those updates to the database so that multiple records are created through a single database operation. This reduces the total number of round-trips to the database, something my colleague Dan Poirier discussed in more detail in the post linked above.

In 2018, we published 44 posts on our blog, including technical how-to’s, a series on UX research methods, web development best practices, and tips for project management. Among all those posts, 18 rose to the top of the popularity list in 2018.

Photo by Bartek Pawlik.

DjangoCon 2018 attracted attendees from around the world, including myself and several other Cakti (check out our DjangoCon recap post). Having attended a number of DjangoCons in the past, I looked forward to reconnecting with old colleagues and friends within the community, learning new things about our favorite framework, and exploring San Diego.

Above: Hundreds of happy Djangonauts at DjangoCon 2018. (Photo by Bartek Pawlik.)

That’s it, folks — another DjangoCon in the books! Caktus was thrilled to sponsor and attend this fantastic gathering of Djangonauts for the ninth year running. This year’s conference ran from October 14 - 19, in sunny San Diego. ☀️

If you want to build a list page that allows filtering and pagination, you have to get a few separate things to work together. Django provides some tools for pagination, but the documentation doesn't tell us how to make that work with anything else. Similarly, django_filter makes it relatively easy to add filters to a view, but doesn't tell you how to add pagination (or other things) without breaking the filtering.

If you’re building or updating a website, you’re probably wondering about which content management system (CMS) to use. A CMS helps users — particularly non-technical users — to add pages and blog posts, embed videos and images, and incorporate other content into their site.

Above: Caktus Account Manager Tim Scales gears up for DjangoCon.

We’re looking forward to taking part in the international gathering of Django enthusiasts at DjangoCon 2018, in San Diego, CA. We’ll be there from October 14 - 19, and we’re proud to attend as sponsors for the ninth year! As such, we’re hosting a mini golf event for attendees (details below).

In the early stages of a web development project, your first step is a big decision: what’s the right tool for the job? What kind of software makes the most sense for me?