I purchased this book b/c I want to put some code that I wrote onto a website, and learn how to build the website the right way. I don't know html, css, or javascript, and I know very little about shell scripting. Django is free, actively maintained, stable, and flexible, and it uses Python, which is the only programming language I know well, so it (Django) was a good choice for a framework.
I'm currently ~45% of the way through the book, and I couldn't be more impressed. Every choice was made thoughtfully (postgresql, bootstrap, docker, allauth, etc.), with explanations for why the author chose each. The example build is also very thorough, in that it incorporates a lot of the functionality you'd want in a website.
One thing that makes this book exceptional is the completeness and accuracy of the code - it assumes the reader has some basic knowledge of python, and knows very little about orther languages. AND all the code works. There is nothing more frustrating than learning how to do something from flawed or incomplete instructions (my experience with several O'Reilly texts).
Kudos to William Vincent for producing a great resource. I hope he'll keep up with book updates as Django and the tools used in the book continue to mature and change with code updates.
Pro tip: Do NOT purchase the kindle edition. Kindle formatting creates huge problems with code indentation, and breaks it all. Luckily for me, all the code is in GitHub.
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Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon.com
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20 reviews
Matthew S. Lalonde
Excellent Book, DO NOT PURCHASE KINDLE EDITION
23 September 2019 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
Emma K
Probably not the Advanced Django book you're looking for
19 August 2019 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
Micah M
Django for beginners, Pt 2
23 June 2020 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase
Django for beginners, Pt 2
Reviewed in the United States on 23 June 2020
I really wanted to be excited about the second book in Mr. Vincent's Django trilogy. I was severely disappointed.Reviewed in the United States on 23 June 2020
First of all, for the negatives in no particular order:
- If you are using windows and you don't have the pro version or WSL2, you won't be able to complete any of the docker portions of this book.
- There were numerous errors in the book that didn't match what was on github. After troubleshooting for hours, I went to his repo and downloaded a different but functional file.
- The first several chapters were generally repeats from the first book. The double spacing was more than just a cheap ploy for more pages, it made the content hard to follow at times, trying to compare between pages. It also made the content light.
- Many of the subjects were only partially covered. Just when the topic started to get into the meat of any specific matter, the author would defer with a "beyond the scope of this book" type clause.
- My largest gripe was that even though this was a book for professionals, there wasn't a lot of teaching. Each subject was covered the format of brief explanation followed by pages of source code. No real in depth explanation as to what makes the magic work. Just do this, get that. I was hoping to learn more of how than what with the word professional in the title.
What I did like about this book:
- Other than the few technical errors, skipping anything windows related, and lightness, the chapters were really easy to follow. The instructor is great at giving you a very good idea of what you are about to do.
- The range of subjects was great. Each of the important concepts (advanced authentication, performance, security, testing, etc) were at least mentioned. Some examples were enough to get you started. Others were only detailed enough for you to know to research somewhere else, but the range of topics was exactly what should be there.
- Full source on github. The location is only mentioned a few times in the book, so once you find it, bookmark it. It will be a lifesaver for overlooked code typos.
Overall, unless all three books were sold as one, I don't think I'd purchase again.
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I Am Impressed
3 May 2020 -
Published on Amazon.comVerified Purchase