This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by stackbento
🚀 Django Learning Journey – Day 17
Today was not the smoothest day health-wise, but I promised myself one thing: no two consecutive days without touching code.
So even with low energy, I showed up — and even the “basic setup” taught me something valuable.
⚠️ The CommandError Lesson
I started by creating my new Django app…
and instantly faced a CommandError.
Why?
Because I named my app “authentication” — which is already a Python module.
Django simply said:
❌ “You cannot use built-in module names as app names.”
It caught me off guard, but taught me an important rule:
✨ Never use existing Python module names as your app name.
How many of you fell into the same trap?
Tell me I’m not alone! 😄
📦 Best Practice Repeated: Requirements Setup
From my previous project, I continued the same practice:
pip freeze > requirements.txt
Every time I start a new project, this has already become a habit — and a really helpful one.
❓ Curious Question #1 — Linking URLs for Multiple Apps
Now that I’m building an authentication system as a separate app, I have one question for the community:
🧭 What is the best way to structure URLs when you have multiple Django apps?
Especially for something like an “auth” app?
Should we:
Create a urls.py inside every app?
Or keep everything inside the main project urls.py?
Or include each app's URLs with path("auth/", include("auth_app.urls"))?
Would love to hear how you all manage this in real-world projects!
❓ Curious Question #2 — External Databases on Render
Since I deployed my first project on Render, I’m curious:
📌 How do you connect Render apps to external databases like PostgreSQL?
Do you configure them in environment variables?
Or use Render’s built-in PostgreSQL service?
Any tips or gotchas to watch out for?
❤️ Signing Off
Not the most productive day in terms of coding…
But a huge win in terms of consistency and learning.
Even on slow days, the journey continues.
Tomorrow, I hope to pick up more momentum and dive deeper into building the authentication workflow.
Let me know your thoughts or suggestions — always eager to learn from this wonderful community!
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by stackbento
stackbento | Sciencx (2025-11-20T22:55:00+00:00) Django Learning Day 17. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2025/11/20/django-learning-day-17/
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