We often wonder about the big fuzz of the AJAX technology and it simplifies work on our Network Solutions sites but most often we also scratches ahead what exactly AJAX is made of and made for.

AJAX stands for Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. The term was coined for AJAX platform is the product of different technologies and the prominent of it were the JavaScript and XML. Si if that’s the case then why not just use JavaScript or XML? That would be a lot easier. I also ask that question when I was in College and my strong feat was on JavaScript. Our web instructor at that time told me that AJAX is not a single stuff and using it would mean handful of web stuffs are at your disposal.

I have been an IT instructor and a web specialist and indeed AJAX is not just a single technology and also more than a handful of web technologies. It actually incorporates the following web platforms to come up a more robust yet simple web frame work:

• XHTML for the markup of web pages
• Cascading Style Sheet or CSS
• DOM / Dynamic Display and Interaction
• XML / Data Manipulation
• XML and HTTP to provide Data Retrieval
• and of course, JavaScript as the base foundation to support all of them.

]]> http://djangodummy.com/2011/08/28/deconstructing-ajax/feed/ 0 http://djangodummy.com/2011/07/26/django-versus-ruby-on-rails/ http://djangodummy.com/2011/07/26/django-versus-ruby-on-rails/#comments Tue, 26 Jul 2011 15:08:00 +0000 Emmanuel D. http://djangodummy.com/?p=204

There’s always been a debate between which is better to use, Django or Ruby on Rails. Although, the two are pretty much different with each other, their similarity is visible and comparing the two is inevitable.  Before we declare a winner between Django and Ruby on Rails, let’s first know the two platform better (I tried them both using a godaddy coupon 2011 list for a unique name.)

Django emerged as a product of the highly successful Lawrence Journal World and was intended to host news site. On the other hand, Ruby on Rails sprouted from the development of Basecamp as a framework for a project management web-based service. Considering that both framework is an output of a development of a web-based application then we can conclude that its objectives during its developmental cycle are its strongest feats. News sites for Django and Project Management by Rails. Although it is a correct notion, the two frameworks are more than what they were originally intended to be. Their architecture is now robust that they can be used in almost all types of web applications.

The two frameworks uses HTML templates as its physical architecture.  The major distinctions is in their formats which the Rails uses an inline Ruby codes for the templates while Django applies its own templating tag language. In this case, Rails functionality can be extended into complex functionality which Django may lacks but Django is simple enough that users with lesser programming skills can still develop web applications and templates.

Another difference of the two frameworks is the core scripting language it supports. Django is more on AJAX and with its packaged JSON module while Ruby on Rails comes with the JAVA language so JavaScripting and Jqueries is not an issue. With the current updates of the two frameworks and its Open Source platform, both has plugins that can support cross platform language now. Django has Jython to support Java framework and there are plugins for Rails that can support AJAX.

It is not really necessary for us to declare a winner for both frameworks are doing well to its base platforms and has started a strong of community of supporters. But if I have to choose, I would proclaim Django since it has Jython and AJAX supports so it means a cross platform compatibility between Java and AJAX… and that is a rare feat for CMS.

Python is the best core framework of Django. It’s like coffee and creamer together but some developers specializing in Java platforms prefers a framework that is also scalable in Java environment. There is actually a platform built for Java developers who wanted to use Django as its CMS and its called Jython.

A Jython is a a Python implementation for the Java platform and its been proven and tested to work perfectly with Django. Though some installation process may differ and database set up needs some extra lines. It’s scalability to the Java platform is excellent and the community of Django-Python users are growing in numbers now.

For more details in installation guides for Jython, Django or Django – Jython Package, Visit the Links below.

http://wiki.python.org/jython/InstallationInstructions

http://packages.python.org/django-jython/quickstart.html

I was trying to pip upgrade django in on my development box. Imagine my confusion when pip install django –upgrade upgraded my 1.3 alpha 1 version to version 1.2.3, breaking all my 1.3 specific code. There seems to be an issue with pointers in the virtual environment build/ directory. To fix the issue, all you need to do is remove the build/django/ folder and rerun pip install django –upgrade you will get the version you expect.

I found some GoDaddy coupon codes and I figured this would be time to tackle a question we get from time to time: People want to know who we use for our domain and hosting. Even with Django you need hosting to store your files and images. We go with GoDaddy, we’ve used a few different companies and switched for various reasons, but in short we use GoDaddy because it’s consistently cheap and their service is very reliable. Now with these GoDaddy coupon codes you can find them even cheaper.

I found these GoDaddy Coupon Codes for a discount.

Domains for just $7.49 and hosting at 20% off and more, use the link above.

Remember that if you switch your hosting company, you have to make sure all your Django settings are changed correctly as well so that you don’t end up with broken apps or images. Switching hosts is actually a fairly painless process though. There’s a really good GoDaddy coupon code up there to get .CO domains for cheap; .CO started as the extension for the country of Colombia, but now that it’s been opened up, it’s gaining a lot of legitimacy. Even high-level internet companies like twitter (t.co) and overstock.com (o.co) are using the .CO domains. I think just like the cheap .COM domains that were bought for cheap back in the early 90s, buying a .CO domain for your Django site will be a good investment in the future. Right now the .CO market has barely been tapped, but in a few years when domain names are scarcer they might become valuable commodities. And domain sales are no small potatoes: ‘Fund.com’ was sold for 10 million dollars!

So whether you are still deciding whether or not to start your own site or you just want to move some stuff over from a hosting or domain company that isn’t giving you what you want at a good price, you may as well use these GoDaddy coupon codes before they expire.

Confusing? You bet. Actually, WordPress started it. When weeks ago they announced that 3.1 had been released and they named it “Django” in honor of the jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt and weeks followed, Django named their 1.3 release “WordPress”.

The first time I saw the news in my facebook account that wordpress named their latest version Django I was surprised due to the fact that another CMS named Django existed. Now, i am much more surprised that Django retaliated by naming their latest release WordPress. Obviously, WordPress is the current behemoth of CMS and blogging and Django is the underdog but I think it’s a bit unprofessional for the guys in wordpress to name their update Django. C’mon guys, pick your own size like Joomla or blogger.

But I just find these whole incident comical and I am enjoying it in a good way. I dont think wordpress is bullying Django but obviously they did a research first when they come up with that name. I think WordPress is just messing Django and Django’s response is more funnier.

WordPress now named their 3.1 release “Reinhardt”, the last name of Django, the jazz guitarist while Django named their 1.3 release “Automattic”, and according to Django, that is the last name of WordPress.

This happening just made my day. I love reading news like this.

WordPress and Django, you both rocks!

You can now make your Django-based CMS and use a Network solutions coupon code to get started and make a website flashy and trendy by using the Stalward – Piecemaker extension. Django is also packed now with good and nifty extensions for all your needs like Flash animations and even action scripts.

The Stalwart – Piecemaker or Piecemaker is an open source flash based actionscript supported image rotator for your Django site.

Installation and Configuration is a breeze, just add these lines:

For Installation:

pip install -e git+git@github.com:masarliev/django-plugins.git#egg=stalwart

For Configuration:

1. Put ‘stalwrat.piecemaker’ in INSTALLED_APPS
2. Copy stalwart/piecemaker/media/ to your site media
3. Add this to your application urls
   url(r’^piecemaker_(?P\d+).xml’, ‘stalwart.piecemaker.views.render_xml’, name=”piecemaker_xml”),
4. Don’t forget or syncdb

Visit the official link for more details:

http://blog.masarliev.net/en/django-apps/piecemaker/

You probably have encountered the term TinyMCE when using Django or other CMS or you probably have use it but just don’t know what it is.. Well, TinyMCE is s a platform independent web based Javascript HTML WYSIWYG editor control released as Open Source under LGPL by Moxiecode Systems AB. It has the ability to convert HTML TEXTAREA fields or other HTML elements to editor instances. TinyMCE is very easy to integrate into other Content Management Systems.

Yes. It’s a platform or an HTML editor. More like a widget or a plugin. As you see, most CMS allows you enter posts or content like right now.. im blogging this using WordPress via post but I cannot edit the post in a WYISWYG manner. I have to hard code it with CSS to get the appearance that I wanted. Thanks to TinyMCE, it converts my CMS into mini-dreamweaver or frontpage.

Why TinyMCE is vital to all CMS, here are the reasons:
1. Easy to Integrate – You can integrate it with your Django and other CMS easily. (ill post a guide on installing TinyCME to Django).
2. Customizable – It can adopt to any kind of themes and plugins.
3. Browser Friendly – It works in all browsers.
4. Supports AJAX – It can support AJAX scripts.
5. International – It has international and multilingual supports.
6. Open Source – I dont need to explain this one.. fine.. its free! Dummy!

So download it now and make your Django and other CMS and one robut WYISWYG HTML editor!

http://tinymce.moxiecode.com/

If you are using a template in Django and you want to show what version of Django you are using in your website, you can use this code:

In the ile context_processors.py

add this code:
import sys

import django

def DjangoVersionContextProcessor(request):

    one, two, three, four, five = django.VERSION

    return {“DJANGO_VERSION”: “%s.%s.%s” % (one, two, three)}

def PythonVersionContextProcessor(request):

    one, two, three, four, five = sys.version_info

    return {“PYTHON_VERSION”: “%s.%s.%s” % (one, two, three)}

TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (

    … others values in tuple removed  …

    “core.context_processors.DjangoVersionContextProcessor”,
    “core.context_processors.PythonVersionContextProcessor”,
)

<a href=”http://python.org” title=”Python {{ PYTHON_VERSION }}”>Python {{ PYTHON_VERSION }}</a>
<a href=”http://www.djangoproject.com” title=”Django {{ DJANGO_VERSION }}”>Django {{ DJANGO_VERSION }}</a>

Here is a sample output:

]]> http://djangodummy.com/2010/11/10/how-to-display-django-version-numbers-in-template/feed/ 0 http://djangodummy.com/2010/10/21/django-and-google-app-engine-working-together/ http://djangodummy.com/2010/10/21/django-and-google-app-engine-working-together/#comments Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:55:58 +0000 Emmanuel D. http://djangodummy.com/?p=130

One of our main concern when a new WEB framework or CMS is its compatibility issues on leading app engine like the Google App. As a web developer and CMS enthusiast, i personally always make sure that the new CMS I am using is compatible with Google App Engine.

Well its a good news for us who are using or planning to use Django framework for it is compatible with Google App Engine.  Both Google App Engine and Django can run the WSGI standard to run applications. With a little modification, you can easily use the Google App Engine Datastore.

Here is a helpful code that i got from Google:

Writing your WSGI Handler in main.py

import logging, os

# Google App Engine imports.
from google.appengine.ext.webapp import util

# Force Django to reload its settings.
from django.conf import settings
settings._target = None

# Must set this env var before importing any part of Django
# 'project' is the name of the project created with django-admin.py
os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'project.settings'

import logging
import django.core.handlers.wsgi
import django.core.signals
import django.db
import django.dispatch.dispatcher

def log_exception(*args, **kwds):
    logging.exception('Exception in request:')

# Log errors.
django.dispatch.dispatcher.connect(
    log_exception, django.core.signals.got_request_exception)

# Unregister the rollback event handler.
django.dispatch.dispatcher.disconnect(
    django.db._rollback_on_exception,
    django.core.signals.got_request_exception)

def main():
    # Create a Django application for WSGI.
    application = django.core.handlers.wsgi.WSGIHandler()

    # Run the WSGI CGI handler with that application.
    util.run_wsgi_app(application)

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

_________________

if you have other Django and Google App Engine useful resources, Kindly put it in the comments.