Python Django Cheat Sheet

Covers Django project and app setup, models, migrations, views, URL routing, and common ORM query patterns for building web applications.

2 PagesIntermediateApr 2, 2026

Project & App Setup

Scaffold a Django project and run the dev server.

bash

pip install django                       # Install Djangodjango-admin startproject mysite .       # Create project in current dirpython manage.py startapp blog           # Create an apppython manage.py runserver               # Run dev server (localhost:8000)python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8080  # Run on custom host/port

Models

Define database tables as Python classes.

python

from django.db import modelsclass Post(models.Model):    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)    body = models.TextField()    published = models.BooleanField(default=False)    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)    author = models.ForeignKey(        "auth.User", on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name="posts"    )    def __str__(self):        return self.title

Migrations

Generate and apply schema changes.

bash

python manage.py makemigrations        # Create migration files from model changespython manage.py migrate               # Apply migrations to the databasepython manage.py sqlmigrate blog 0001  # Preview SQL for a migrationpython manage.py showmigrations        # List migrations and their applied status

Views & URL Routing

Wire URLs to view functions and query the database.

python

# views.pyfrom django.shortcuts import render, get_object_or_404from .models import Postdef post_list(request):    posts = Post.objects.filter(published=True).order_by("-created_at")    return render(request, "blog/list.html", {"posts": posts})def post_detail(request, pk):    post = get_object_or_404(Post, pk=pk)    return render(request, "blog/detail.html", {"post": post})# urls.pyfrom django.urls import pathfrom . import viewsurlpatterns = [    path("", views.post_list, name="post_list"),    path("<int:pk>/", views.post_detail, name="post_detail"),]

Common ORM Queries

Frequently used QuerySet methods.

Model.objects.all()- Return a QuerySet of every row
Model.objects.get(pk=1)- Fetch a single object; raises DoesNotExist if none match
Model.objects.filter(field=value)- Return a QuerySet matching a condition
Model.objects.exclude(field=value)- Return objects that don't match a condition
.order_by('-created_at')- Sort results, prefix with '-' for descending order
.select_related('author')- Eager-load a ForeignKey in the same SQL query via JOIN
.prefetch_related('tags')- Eager-load a many-to-many/reverse-FK with a separate query
Model.objects.create(**kwargs)- Create and save a new row in a single call

Pro Tip

Use select_related() for ForeignKey/OneToOne fields and prefetch_related() for ManyToMany/reverse-FK fields to avoid the N+1 query problem — django-debug-toolbar makes it easy to spot in development.

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