Why to use PostgreSQL with Django?

We are living in an era where data is considered as the new currency. The more data you have the more rich you are. And, the amount of data available is increasing day by day.To store data available databases are used. Many different types of databases are available now. In this blog, we will learn about one such database PostgreSQL and why it is best choice to use with Django while developing a web application.

Contents

1. Django – Introduction, Features, and Architecture

2. Why do we need a database?

3. PostgreSQL – Introduction, Features and Companies using it

4. PostgreSQL with Django

5. Final thought

What is Django?

Django is an open-source web development framework used to build web applications for different business problems. It is based on the Python programming language. It follows the DRY (Don’t Repeat Yourself) principle to avoid the repetition of unwanted code which the development process to maintain the optimization of code. Django comprises different components like authentication system, Content Management System, database interactions and many more.

It offers features like

• Rapid development
• Security
• Scalability
• Versatility
• ORM ( Object Relational Mapper)

Learn more about Django features here.

One of the most important features amongst these is object relational mapper. The ORM helps developers to map data between the models and the database tables without writing any SQL queries. This allows developers to build applications quickly eliminating the time wasted in writing complex queries by using Django inbuilt functions according to their requirements.

It works on the MVT Model View Template architectural pattern for developing web apps.

• Model: In Django, each model is a class that represents a table in the database and every attribute in the class represents a field in the corresponding table. Models are denied in the models.py file.
• View: In Django, the view is a function that works as the controller and takes a web request and sends the web responses like HTML pages, XML documents, images, a 404 page not found error, etc.
• Template: In Django, the Template folder contains all the client-side files like HTML, CSS, and javascript files and keeps the code clean by keeping the backend and frontend code separately.

This MVT structure help developers to keep the codes separately and enable them to change the frontend part of web application without changing the backend business logics.This is especially beneficial while interacting with database.

Why do we need a database?

Nowadays, having a web application for your business is a necessity. Having a database for your web applications makes them more versatile, scalable, and interactive. A database allows you to create, store, read, update and delete data whenever needed. For example, If you have a shopping website you will need to store the products details that you have and the order details etc, If you have a social media website you will need to store all the data of all the users what they post, what they like, their comments and many more items or if you have a simple website that shows your company details you must have a page which has a contact form which people can fill and contact you for that you need a database.

Specifically talking about Django, It offers a default SQLite database when you start building an app but it is meant for small projects and it is not too much scalable which is not something you want. That’s why we tend to use different databases with Django to achieve the ACID principle and maintain the scalability of our web application. The Django web framework supports multiple databases. Examples include MYSQL, MongoDB, PostgresSQL, MariaDB, and SQLite.

The Django official documentation preffer PostgreSQL.The Django supports POstgreSQL 9.5 and higher version It uses django.contrib.postgres module to make database operations.Now lets us learn about PostreSQL.

What is PostgreSQL?

It is a powerful open-source relational database. With the support of more than 20 years of community development, it is a highly stable database management system with high levels of reliability, integrity, and correctness. A lot of web applications, mobile applications, geo-spatial applications, and analytics applications use PostgreSQL as their primary data store or data warehouse. Currently, PostgreSQL 12 is the latest version. It is also known as Postgres.

Scientists from the University of California at Berkeley created PostgreSQL. It was originally known as Ingres. The creators of this application gradually added more features and improved it over time. As a result, the name was changed to Postgres95 and finally to PostgreSQL.

Features of PostgreSQL

• It allows the development of a fault-tolerant environment by administrators to maintain data integrity.
• It is compatible with all major programming languages and middle ware.
• It supports a multi-version concurrency control system
• It supports client-server network architecture
• It support both relational(SQL) and non-relational(JSON) querying.
• It is completely ACID(Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability.
• It is compliant with the ANSI SQL standard

Giant tech companies like Apple, IMDB, Instagram, Reddit,Skype, Spotify uses it. International Space Station also utilize it to store the data on the orbit and then replicate that database on the ground. PostgreSQL is widely used in the Financial Industry, Government GIS data, Manufacturing, Web technology and many more domains.

Advantages of using PostgreSQL with Django

• Django supports richest set of features offered by PostgreSQL.
• Django has django.contrib.postgres to make database operations on PostgreSQL.
• Django provides a lot of data types that are only supported by PostgreSQL like ArrayField, HStoreField, and PostgreSQL-specific aggregation which can be used for both general-purpose data aggregation and statistical analytics. The JSONField stores JSON encoded data.
• As a result of PostgreSQL specific database constraints, developers can specify what kind of data can be inserted into the database. This increases the accuracy and reliability of data in the database.
• Using the “django.contrib.postgres.forms” module, the Django framework provides form fields and widgets that are specific to PostgreSQL.
• You must utilize PostgreSQL if you are creating a map-based application or storing geographical data, as GeoDjango is only completely compatible with PostgreSQL.
• Database functions such as TranscationNow, which return the date and time when the current transaction started on the database server, are specific to PostgreSQL.
• PostgreSQL specific lookups extend this functionality beyond what is provided by Django’s built-in lookups. There is an unaccent lookup feature available in PostgreSQL, which enables accent-insensitive lookups. PostgreSQL also supports migration of Django Database extensions to PostgreSQL.
• Additional validators that are specific to PostgreSQL are provide by the “django.contrib.postgres.validators”.
•  Full-text search functionality is supported by PostgreSQL database which allows searching natural language documents using Django.
• In addition, PostgreSQL-specific indexes like BrinIndex, BTreeIndex, GinIndex can help users effectively manage large datasets with advanced indexing functionality.

Some special cases when PostgreSQL is the best database choice for Django 

• To store geographical data: If you are using maps in your application, the best choice would be PostgreSQL, since it is completely compatible with GeoDjango.
• To provide Procedural language support: Python and many other programming languages an be used as procedural programming languages in PostgreSQL.
• To use JSON: jsonb were added in Postgres 9.4. So it doesn’t require extra NoSQL DB.
• Data type changes: You can alter the data type of a column in PostgreSQL without having to rewrite the table. Since Postgre 9.1, changing the data type has been faster.

Final Thought

Any company’s data is a valuable asset. How you input, access, and utilize that data can either be a time-consuming expense or a game-changer in terms of your company’s efficiency and cost-cutting. After deciding on a framework for developing your business’s application, the next most daunting challenge is deciding on the finest database for the job. In this blog, we learned why PostgreSQL is the finest database to utilize with Django development to create a solution to your business challenge.

Startxlabs, one of India’s top digital transformation service providers. Launched in 2014, Startxlabs aims in innovating a digital future by developing technology for the web and mobile platforms. From our beginning as a technology development company, we’ve tried to stay true to our core beliefs and to deliver exceptional services to our clients. Whether it’s people we work for or people who work for us, we value honesty, passion, and the desire to explore. We have expertise in website development, android app development, iOS app development, Flutter, React Native app development, UI/UX design, and marketing strategy. With the engagement of our highly technical team, we have delivered over 110+ projects providing a positive impact on the users.