125 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
125 lines
5.6 KiB
Plaintext
=================================
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Django version 0.95 release notes
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=================================
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Welcome to the Django 0.95 release.
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This represents a significant advance in Django development since the 0.91
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release in January 2006. The details of every change in this release would be
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too extensive to list in full, but a summary is presented below.
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Suitability and API stability
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=============================
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This release is intended to provide a stable reference point for developers
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wanting to work on production-level applications that use Django.
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However, it's not the 1.0 release, and we'll be introducing further changes
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before 1.0. For a clear look at which areas of the framework will change (and
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which ones will *not* change) before 1.0, see the api-stability.txt file, which
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lives in the docs/ directory of the distribution.
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You may have a need to use some of the features that are marked as
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"subject to API change" in that document, but that's OK with us as long as it's
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OK with you, and as long as you understand APIs may change in the future.
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Fortunately, most of Django's core APIs won't be changing before version 1.0.
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There likely won't be as big of a change between 0.95 and 1.0 versions as there
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was between 0.91 and 0.95.
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Changes and new features
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========================
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The major changes in this release (for developers currently using the 0.91
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release) are a result of merging the 'magic-removal' branch of development.
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This branch removed a number of constraints in the way Django code had to be
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written that were a consequence of decisions made in the early days of Django,
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prior to its open-source release. It's now possible to write more natural,
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Pythonic code that works as expected, and there's less "black magic" happening
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behind the scenes.
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Aside from that, another main theme of this release is a dramatic increase in
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usability. We've made countless improvements in error messages, documentation,
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etc., to improve developers' quality of life.
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The new features and changes introduced in 0.95 include:
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* Django now uses a more consistent and natural filtering interface for
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retrieving objects from the database.
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* User-defined models, functions and constants now appear in the module
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namespace they were defined in. (Previously everything was magically
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transferred to the django.models.* namespace.)
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* Some optional applications, such as the FlatPage, Sites and Redirects
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apps, have been decoupled and moved into django.contrib. If you don't
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want to use these applications, you no longer have to install their
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database tables.
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* Django now has support for managing database transactions.
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* We've added the ability to write custom authentication and authorization
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backends for authenticating users against alternate systems, such as
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LDAP.
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* We've made it easier to add custom table-level functions to models,
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through a new "Manager" API.
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* It's now possible to use Django without a database. This simply means
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that the framework no longer requires you to have a working database set
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up just to serve dynamic pages. In other words, you can just use
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URLconfs/views on their own. Previously, the framework required that a
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database be configured, regardless of whether you actually used it.
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* It's now more explicit and natural to override save() and delete()
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methods on models, rather than needing to hook into the pre_save() and
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post_save() method hooks.
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* Individual pieces of the framework now can be configured without
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requiring the setting of an environment variable. This permits use of,
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for example, the Django templating system inside other applications.
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* More and more parts of the framework have been internationalized, as
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we've expanded internationalization (i18n) support. The Django
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codebase, including code and templates, has now been translated, at least
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in part, into 31 languages. From Arabic to Chinese to Hungarian to Welsh,
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it is now possible to use Django's admin site in your native language.
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The number of changes required to port from 0.91-compatible code to the 0.95
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code base are significant in some cases. However, they are, for the most part,
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reasonably routine and only need to be done once. A list of the necessary
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changes is described in the `Removing The Magic`_ wiki page. There is also an
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easy checklist_ for reference when undertaking the porting operation.
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.. _Removing The Magic: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/RemovingTheMagic
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.. _checklist: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/MagicRemovalCheatSheet1
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Problem reports and getting help
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================================
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Need help resolving a problem with Django? The documentation in the distribution
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is also available online_ at the `Django Web site`_. The :doc:`FAQ </faq/index>`
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document is especially recommended, as it contains a number of issues that come
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up time and again.
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For more personalized help, the `django-users`_ mailing list is a very active
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list, with more than 2,000 subscribers who can help you solve any sort of
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Django problem. We recommend you search the archives first, though, because
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many common questions appear with some regularity, and any particular problem
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may already have been answered.
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Finally, for those who prefer the more immediate feedback offered by IRC,
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there's a #django channel on irc.freenode.net that is regularly populated by
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Django users and developers from around the world. Friendly people are usually
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available at any hour of the day -- to help, or just to chat.
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.. _online: http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/0.95/
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.. _Django Web site: http://www.djangoproject.com/
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.. _django-users: http://groups.google.com/group/django-users
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Thanks for using Django!
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The Django Team
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July 2006
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