Django Templates
Django templates generate dynamic HTML by mixing static markup with {{ }} variables and template tags that Django fills in at render time.
Rendering a Template from a View
The render() shortcut takes the request, a template name, and an optional context dictionary. It finds the template, fills in the context, and returns an HttpResponse - all in one call.
Example
from django.shortcuts import render
def home(request):
context = {
'page_title': 'Welcome',
'visitor_count': 128,
}
return render(request, 'core/home.html', context)Where Django Looks for Templates
With APP_DIRS enabled in the TEMPLATES setting (the default in a new project), Django searches for a templates/ folder inside each installed app. The convention is to nest templates one level deeper in a folder named after the app, so myapp/templates/myapp/home.html - this avoids two apps accidentally shadowing a template with the same file name.
Example
myapp/
templates/
myapp/
home.html
<!-- myapp/templates/myapp/home.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>{{ page_title }}</title></head>
<body>
<h1>{{ page_title }}</h1>
<p>Visitors so far: {{ visitor_count }}</p>
</body>
</html>Variable Syntax: {{ }}
{{ variable }} outputs a value from the context. Dot notation walks through the value step by step, and Django tries each of the following lookups in order until one succeeds: dictionary key lookup, attribute lookup, list-index lookup, then a no-argument method call.
- Dictionary lookup - {{ post.title }} tries post['title'] first
- Attribute lookup - falls back to post.title as an object attribute
- List-index lookup - {{ tags.0 }} returns tags[0]
- Method call - {{ queryset.count }} calls queryset.count() with no arguments
Example
<p>Welcome back, {{ user.username }}</p>
<p>Latest post: {{ latest_post.title }}</p>
<p>First tag: {{ tags.0 }}</p>
<p>Total posts: {{ posts.count }}</p>Exercise: Django Templates
What is the main purpose of Django's template system?
