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20 år med Django!

8. oktober, 2025 af Django Denmark

Der findes mange forskellige måder at bygge apps og hjemmesider, og i hele 20 år har Django været et framework, som har gjort det muligt for “the perfectionist with deadlines” at gøre lige netop dette.

Hvad er Django? Django er et af de mest populære fullstack webframework til Python. Django kan bruges til alt fra API'er til frontend-tunge applikationer. Django er kendt for at have mange gennemtænkte redskaber til almindelig webudvikling. Indbygget sikkerhed og robusthed er høj prioritet. Derudover findes der et utal af tredjeparts moduler som udvider mulighederne. Mange kendte kommercielle projekter kører Django eller brugte det i deres indledende år, såsom Instagram, Pinterest, Dropbox, Spotify, Bitbucket, Read the Docs, Disqus mm.

Når vi på fredag d. 10. oktober fejrer det med kage og sjov på Nørrebro (kom med!), så er det i samme ånd, som vi altid har været involverede i Django: Det er sjovt, det er socialt, og vi lærer af hinanden.

20 år er ikke dårligt: Det betyder først og fremmest, at der findes MASSER af substans i redskabskassen. Om det er dokumentation, StackOverflow, eller selve designet af frameworket - det hele er modent, og Django-baserede løsninger fremstår elegante og læsevenlige. Og hvis man er til AI, vil man opdage, at den er utroligt veltrænet. Dertil kommer Lindy-Effekten [1]: Den nuværende alder for teknologi, er afgørende for dens fremtidsudsigter.

Django er på vej ind i fremtiden på en række punkter. Den kommende version af Django, version 6.0, byder på en stor tilføjelse i form af kernefunktionalitet for baggrundsjobs (asynkron afvikling af kode) [2], som udvides i de kommende versioner.

Der findes også mange livlige diskussioner omkring fremtiden for Django. De fleste ønsker, at Django får “first class” understøttelse til REST API’er, hvor tidlige benchmarks viser, at Django kan blive lige så hurtig, som FastAPI, når serialiseringen også foregår via Rust-biblioteker som Pydantic [3].

Med de igangværende og fremtidige udvidelser indenfor async, baggrundsjobs og API-design, er det nemt at tro på, at Django beholder sin relevans. Visionen er at fortsætte udviklingen gennem velovervejede beslutninger, fortsat fokus på sikkerhed, samt at muliggøre et stort optag af nye brugere gennem masser af dokumentation og fokus på inklusion. Udefra kan udviklingen af måske se lidt langsomt ud, men hvis man har brugt Django gennem en årrække, og anvender økosystemet af tredjeparts moduler, er det nemt at have tillid til, at den jævne udvikling holder frameworket inde i en ellers hård konkurrence.

For os Django-entusiaster, virker det oplagt at vælge Django til nystartede backend-projekter, hvor vi f.eks. har django-ninja til at give et type-drevet grænsesnit som FastAPI; vi kender også fordelene ved FastAPI! Det er faktisk helt legitimt at vælge både Django og FastAPI, fordi Django’s ORM f.eks. kan benyttes sammen med FastAPIs API-værktøjskasse.

På frontend-siden har der været større ændringer over de 20 år, fordi den interaktive del har flyttet sig væk fra serveren og over på klienten takket være JavaScripts udvikling. Her er det spændende at følge de mange initiativer, som taler for progressive enhancement med “html over the wire”. Og her tænker vi specielt på htmx. Man kan således stadig være med i en nyskabende bølge, hvor Django fortsat er et fullstack-framework; vi skal også være ærlige og sige, at Django p.t. mest handler om backend.

Uanset frontend eller backend, er Django et holistisk valg, som omfatter modenhed i alle facetterne af et langsigtet web-projekt. Vælger man Django, vælger man et framework, som udvikler sig jævnt og passende: Visionen er, at det skal være nemt at opgradere sine projekter. Nye Django-udgivelser findes som “LTS” (Long-Term Support), hvor man kan hoppe mellem LTS-versionerne, og nye features og deprecations introduceres løbende og uden store tæppetræk.

Det er knap så mange open-source-redskaber, som vi har et socialt fællesskab omkring i samme grad som Django; Django favner UTROLIGT bredt og dermed rammer samtalen både design, livscyklus og best practice for udvikling. Og det menneskelige er altid med: Django flyttede sig fra at være et BDFL-projekt, til at være demokratisk, og sidenhen er det blevet globalt takket være en stor interesse for inklusivitet, diversitet og tilgængelighed.

I slutningen af 2014 startede Djangos Fellowship program. En “fellow” er betalt af Django Software Foundation for at vedligeholde projektet på mange måder. Så sent som i august 2025 kom vi op på hele tre ansatte fellows.

I Danmark har der længe været et fællesskab omkring Django, både som individuelle mindre events og tilbagevændende større aktiviteter årligt. I 2019 holdt vi DjangoCon Europe i København og knap 400 deltagere fra hele verden var forbi. Vi så en pæn interesse fra danske organisationer, og vi vil bestemt opfordre flere til at engagere sig i miljøet. Django er fortsat på vej fremad, og nye vinde blæser i retning af digital suverænitet (den franske regering er godt i gang), hvilket tiltrækker flere nye brugere.

Et stort tillykke med fødselsdagen fra Django Danmark!

Balder, Vidir og Emil

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
[2] https://github.com/django/deps/blob/main/accepted/0014-background-workers.rst
[3] https://mastodon.social/@farhanaliraza/115253915866389914

20 years of Django!

8. oktober, 2025 by Django Denmark

There are many different ways to build apps and websites, and for 20 years, Django has been a framework that has made it possible for “the perfectionist with deadlines” to do just that.

What's this Django? Django is one of the most popular full-stack web frameworks for Python. Django can be used for everything from APIs to front-end-heavy applications. Django is known for having many well-thought-out tools for general web development. Built-in security and robustness are a high priority. In addition, there are countless third-party modules that expand the possibilities. Many well-known commercial projects run Django or used it in their early years, such as Instagram, Pinterest, Dropbox, Spotify, Bitbucket, Read the Docs, Disqus, etc.

When we celebrate with cake and fun on Friday, October 10th in Nørrebro (join us!), it will be in the same spirit that we have always been involved in Django: It’s fun, it’s social, and we learn from each other.

20 years is not bad: First of all, it means that there is LOTS of substance in the toolbox. Whether it’s documentation, StackOverflow, or the design of the framework itself - it’s all mature, and Django-based solutions appear elegant and readable. And if you’re into AI, you’ll find that it’s incredibly well-trained. Added to that is the Lindy Effect [1]: The current age of technology is crucial to its future prospects.

Django is moving into the future in a number of ways. The upcoming version of Django, version 6.0, offers a major addition in the form of core functionality for background jobs (asynchronous code execution) [2], which will be expanded in future versions.

There are also many lively discussions about the future of Django. Most want Django to have “first class” support for REST APIs, where early benchmarks show that Django can be as fast as FastAPI when serialization is also done via Rust libraries like Pydantic [3].

With the ongoing and future extensions in async, background jobs, and API design, it is easy to believe that Django will remain relevant. The vision is to continue development through well-considered decisions, a continued focus on security, and to enable a large uptake of new users through lots of documentation and a focus on inclusion. From the outside, the development of may seem a bit slow, but if you have been using Django for a number of years, and use the ecosystem of third-party modules, it is easy to trust that the smooth development keeps the framework in the face of otherwise tough competition.

For us Django enthusiasts, it seems obvious to choose Django for newly started backend projects, where we for example have django-ninja to provide a type-driven interface like FastAPI; we also know the advantages of FastAPI! It is actually completely legitimate to choose both Django and FastAPI, because Django’s ORM can be used together with FastAPI’s API toolbox, for example.

On the frontend side, there have been major changes over the 20 years, because the interactive part has moved away from the server and onto the client thanks to the development of JavaScript. Here it is exciting to follow the many initiatives that advocate progressive enhancement with “html over the wire”. And here we are thinking in particular of htmx. So you can still be part of an innovative wave where Django is still a full-stack framework; we must also be honest and say that Django is currently mostly about the backend.

Regardless of frontend or backend, Django is a holistic choice that encompasses maturity in all facets of a long-term web project. If you choose Django, you choose a framework that develops smoothly and appropriately: the vision is that it should be easy to upgrade your projects. New Django releases are available as “LTS” (Long-Term Support), where you can jump between LTS versions, and new features and deprecations are introduced continuously and without much fuss.

There are not many open-source tools that we have a social community around to the same extent as Django; Django is INCREDIBLY broad-based and thus covers the conversation both design, lifecycle and best practice for development. And the human element is always there: Django moved from being a BDFL project to being democratic, and since then it has become global thanks to a great interest in inclusivity, diversity and accessibility.

At the end of 2014, Django’s Fellowship program started. A “fellow” is paid by the Django Software Foundation to maintain the project in many ways. As late as August 2025, we had three employed fellows.

In Denmark, there has long been a community around Django, both as individual smaller events and recurring larger activities annually. In 2019, we held DjangoCon Europe in Copenhagen and almost 400 participants from all over the world attended. We saw a good interest from Danish organizations, and we would definitely encourage more people to get involved in the environment. Django is still moving forward, and new winds are blowing in the direction of digital sovereignty (the French government is well underway), which is attracting more new users.

A big happy birthday from Django Denmark!

Balder, Vidir og Emil

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindy_effect
[2] https://github.com/django/deps/blob/main/accepted/0014-background-workers.rst
[3] https://mastodon.social/@farhanaliraza/115253915866389914

Who are we?

Django Day is brought to you by Django Denmark, an association formed in 2018 with the aim of creating and supporting education and networking activities in relation to The Django Web Framework.

We can use your help

If you want to help us with Django Day, please send us an email to info@django-denmark.org.

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