What you build
A task manager with accounts
Sign up, log in and keep your own list of tasks, saved in a real database and deployed for anyone to use.
Django learning path
How to learn Django as a beginner, without getting lost.
The short answer
Learn Python basics first: functions, lists, dictionaries, and enough about classes to read one. Then start Django with one small project instead of the whole documentation. Work through URLs, views and templates, then models and the admin, then forms and user accounts. Add a REST API only once a normal Django site works, and deploy it, because a project nobody can open is not finished.
ZAM Academy's founder, Azzam Makki, teaches Python and Django on Udemy to more than 36,000+ students. This is the order ZAM mentors use when they teach Django one to one.
Two private classes, no card. Updated 5 October 2026 by ZAM Academy.
The path
Where Django fits, from Python basics to a deployed app.
Django is one step on a longer path. These are the steps around it, each with a first task small enough to start today.
Step 1
Python foundations
Variables, decisions, loops and functions: the core of every program. Everything later on this path is built from these pieces. Frameworks and libraries make far more sense once they feel easy. First step: Install Python (or open a free online editor) and write a program that asks for your name and replies to it.
- Variables, text and numbers
- if / else and loops
- Writing your own functions
- Lists and dictionaries
Step 2
Git & GitHub
Save your work properly and share it. Every code review and every team works through Git. It's easiest to learn on a project of your own. First step: Create a GitHub account, put one project in a repository and write a three-line README.
- Commits and a clean history
- Pushing a project to GitHub
- Writing a useful README
- Branches, the basics
Step 3
SQL & databases
Store data properly and ask it questions. Almost every real application stores data, and SQL is one of the longest-lasting skills in software. First step: Create a small SQLite database with one table and write a query against it.
- Tables, rows and relationships
- SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE
- JOINs across tables
- SQLite first, then PostgreSQL
Step 4
Backend with Django
Server-side Python: pages, data, forms and logins. Django turns Python into full web applications, with a database behind them and security built in. First step: Start a Django project and make one page that shows items from a list.
- URLs, views and templates
- Models and the admin
- Forms and validation
- User accounts
Step 5
Build your own API
Serve data to web and mobile front ends. Modern apps split the front end from the back end. The API is the contract between them. First step: Build one endpoint that returns a list of items as JSON.
- REST design: resources and status codes
- Django REST Framework or FastAPI
- Authentication basics
- Testing your endpoints
Step 6
Full-stack project
One complete app: front end, back end and database. One finished full-stack app shows more than ten tutorials, to you and to anyone reviewing your work. First step: Write a one-paragraph description of the app and list the tables it needs.
- Plan the features and the data first
- User accounts and forms
- Database design
- Tests for the parts that matter
Step 7
Deployment
Put your project online for real users. Software isn't finished until someone else can use it. First step: Deploy the smallest working version of your project, even if it's unfinished.
- Hosting a web app
- Environment variables and secrets
- A database in production
- Custom domains (optional)
Inside Django
The Django concepts, in the order they click.
Each one builds on the one before. Learn them on your own project, one at a time.
01
URLs and views
A request comes in, a URL pattern picks a view, and the view returns a response. Everything else in Django hangs off this loop.
02
Templates
Turn data into HTML with template tags, a base layout and blocks, so every page shares one design.
03
Models and migrations
Describe your data as Python classes and let migrations create and change the database tables for you.
04
The admin
Register a model and get a working admin screen for free. It is the fastest way to see your data while you build.
05
Forms and validation
Accept input safely with ModelForms, show errors clearly, and never trust what the browser sends.
06
User accounts
Sign up, log in and log out, and make sure people can only see and change their own data.
07
Settings for production
Static files, environment variables, DEBUG off, and a real database. This is where most first deployments break.
08
Django REST Framework
Serve your data as JSON for a JavaScript or mobile front end, once the plain Django version works.
Your first project
Build a task manager with real user accounts.
It touches every concept above, and it is small enough to finish and deploy.
What it practises
The skills it makes you use
Every one of these comes up again in larger projects, so practising them on something small pays off later.
- Django models and forms
- User accounts
- SQL database design
- Deployment
When it works
Then make it yours
Add due dates and a "due this week" view.
Ignore for now
What can wait until your first Django app works.
Class-based views on day one
Function-based views show exactly what happens to a request. Class-based views are worth learning once you have written the same view three times.
Celery, Channels and caching
Background jobs, websockets and caching solve problems a first project does not have yet.
Docker, Kubernetes and microservices
These solve the problems of large teams running many services. One well-built app comes first.
AWS architecture and cloud certifications
Simple hosting is enough until your app has real users. Certifications can wait until you have something to run.
Choosing between Django, Flask and FastAPI
All three are good, and ZAM teaches Django and FastAPI. Finish one project in one of them; the second framework will take days, not months.
Questions
Common questions, answered plainly.
Do I need to know Python before learning Django?
Yes, the basics. You should be comfortable with functions, lists, dictionaries and loops, and able to read a simple class. Without that, Django errors are very hard to understand, because you cannot tell whether the problem is Django or Python.
Is Django good for beginners?
Yes. Django includes the database layer, admin, forms and user accounts out of the box, so a beginner can build a complete, secure application without assembling a dozen libraries. The cost is that there is more to learn up front, which is why the order on this page matters.
Should I learn Django or FastAPI?
For a first web application with pages, forms and logins, Django. For a small API that a separate front end will call, FastAPI is lighter. ZAM teaches both; your mentor recommends one based on what you want to build.
Is Django still worth learning?
Yes. It is mature, actively maintained and widely used for business applications, content sites and APIs. The skills it teaches, such as request handling, data modelling, authentication and deployment, carry over to any backend framework.
Where can I start learning Django for free?
ZAM's free seven-lesson course, Build Your First Django Blog in 7 Days, covers setup, templates, models, the admin and forms for absolute beginners, with a downloadable lesson pack and no signup.
Does ZAM Academy teach Django one to one?
Yes. Django and Django REST Framework are part of the core curriculum. You work with one mentor in private video sessions on your own project, and you start with two free classes.
Keep reading
Where to go next.
Start with two free classes
Bring your Django project, even if it is stuck on the first migration.
The first class maps your goal, level and weekly hours. The second is a real coding session with feedback. Then your mentor recommends one plan, and you decide.
Plans from US$79/month on Guided. Compare plans