How to setup Django on XMPP on Windows XP

Question

Greetings!

I'd like to investigate Django but I'm running Windows XP. I've installed XMPP and I currently have Python 2.6 installed (is it true that 2.5 is the only version that will work with XMPP?). What else do I need to get up and running? Any tips, recommended IDEs, etc?

Answer 1

As Sam says, for development, use the dev server. Using a "real" server is actually more of a pain because you have to make sure it reloads your project when you make edits. You can also beat it into hosting all your media while in a development environment, if that's what you need (as most people do).

As far as IDE's go, Python is a hard language to provide auto-complete features for due to its dynamic typing. That said PyDev (an Eclipse plug-in) can make life easier for you but it's really down to personal choice.

Half of Django is writing HTML templates, so make sure you've got a good HTML editor to hand as well. Eclipse (IMO, naturally) is far too clunky for this (even with Aptana, et al plugins)

Answer 2

If your just going to play around with django i'd recommend using the built-in development server. for easyness have a server launcher shortcut in your project folder.
runserver.cmd:

@echo off
python manage.py runserver

As for the IDE, i'd recommend Notepad++.

Answer 3

If you really need it to work under Apache, try this from the Django docs. Otherwise, use the development server. If you want a simple way to get started, try Instant Django, although this only has Python 2.5.2.

Finally, concerning IDEs, a good text editor such as Notepad++ or SciTE will suffice. If you want a Python IDE, there is a good list at the Python wiki, and SPE has always worked fine for me.

(Oh, and one tip: have two cmd windows open - one for the server and one for testing, syncdb-ing, etc.)