Reading list

Django documentation, in reading order

1. The Django tutorial, parts 1 to 8. Checklist on Tutorials.
2. Models and Making queries.
3. Migrations.
4. Database transactions.
5. Unit tests: how to run Django's own test suite.
6. Triaging tickets: what the stages and flags on a ticket mean.

The ORM, from the inside

• "Demystifying the Django ORM", Simon Charette's talk to Djangonaut Space Session 3 (2024, 44 minutes), with slides. How a QuerySet becomes SQL and comes back as model instances, in four phases: resolving, compilation, execution, construction. His tip from the questions: use git blame on a line to walk back to its pull request and ticket.

Accessibility tools

• An Orca screen reader tutorial (Wikimedia, 2020): installing and using Orca, the screen reader on Linux, as a sighted developer.
• Accessibility Insights for Web: the browser extension I use to check a page before and after a change.

Reviewing pull requests

• Getting started with Django PR reviews, a gist with a method I intend to follow.

The programme's learning material, by week

From the Djangonaut Space workbook. I do not plan to read all of it.

Week 1

• Becoming a Django Fellow (1 hour)
• Your web framework needs you (15 minutes)
• Intro to sprints at Django (45 minutes)

Week 2, documentation

• Diátaxis, the documentation framework Django uses
• Read the Docs documentation guide
• Google's technical writing resources
• Docs or it didn't happen! (45 minutes)

Week 3, working together

• When to pair program and when to go solo
• Mob programming: a whole team approach (55 minutes)

Week 4, blogging

• Just write
• Blogging articles by Juha-Matti Santala

Week 5, testing and debugging

• Testing at Django (1 hour)
• Debugging at Django (1 hour)
• Profiling in Python

Week 6, community and review

• Ned Batchelder's PyCon 2023 keynote on community (45 minutes)
• How to be an open source gardener
• Guidelines for a healthy code review culture

Week 7, accessibility

• Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.2
• Django accessibility for everyone (30 minutes)
• Setting up a screen reader testing environment

Week 8, giving back

• Django Software Foundation's future
• Coworking with a friend to write more

AI tools

A survey of the AI policies of 108 open source projects codes Django as conditional, with disclosure required (Django's entry). I have not yet read Django's own text, and I will before my first comment or pull request.

My rule for this session: I say in each contribution what an AI tool was used for. This site was written with the help of Claude.