Introduction: I never thought I’d enjoy working on the stuff behind a website

If you’ve ever looked at server-side code and thought, “This looks too complicated,” you’re not alone. I felt the same. I preferred working on the front-end because it felt more visual and direct. But then, during my internship, I was told I needed to learn Django.

At first, I was hesitant. I didn’t get how the other half of web development really worked. But this time, I didn’t have a choice—I had to learn Django. So I pushed myself through the confusion.

Surprisingly, it started to make sense. More than that—it became enjoyable.

I’ve only been learning Django for about a month. I still consider myself a beginner. But even with just that short amount of time, I’ve already built working projects and started understanding how everything connects. In this blog, I’ll share what that first month has looked like—what helped, what didn’t, and what I’d say to anyone just starting out.

Why I Chose Django (And Why You Might Too)

To be honest, I didn’t choose Django—it was required for my internship. But it turned out to be one of the best things I’ve learned so far.

Django is a Python web framework that gives you nearly everything you need to build a site. Things like routing, user authentication, admin dashboards, and database management—it’s all built-in or easy to add. You don’t need to spend hours setting up the basics.

And if you already know a bit of Python, Django feels like a natural next step. It lets you do a lot with very little code, and once I got used to its structure, I realised how fast it is to build working projects.

What Confused Me at the Start (And How I Handled It)

Even though Django is powerful, it was hard at the beginning. My biggest issue? There weren’t many good intermediate-level project tutorials. Most tutorials were either too basic or jumped straight into advanced stuff without enough explanation.

I also struggled with Django’s templating syntax. Things like {% block content %} and {% if %} {% endif %} felt weird at first. I didn’t understand why they were necessary or how they worked together.

But I didn’t let that stop me. Instead of trying to understand everything at once, I just followed along with basic tutorials and copied the code to see what happened. That helped more than trying to read pages of documentation. Over time, I started changing small things in the code, and that’s when it finally began to stick.

One resource that really helped me was Dennis Ivy’s YouTube channel. His tutorials focus on building real projects and explaining things clearly—exactly what I needed.

How Django Changed My Perspective

Django has made it so much easier to understand the full picture of how web apps work. I still have a lot to learn—like Django REST Framework and deploying apps—but even with what I know now, I can build full websites with user authentication, forms, and database functionality.

Here’s what I’ve come to really like about Django:

It’s fast to build with – Once you understand the basics, you can get things running quickly.
The ORM (Object-Relational Mapper) – It simplifies working with databases. You can manage everything using Python code.
Built-in admin panel – No need to build your own dashboard to manage data. Django gives you one out of the box.

These features helped me go from just following tutorials to building my own projects and experimenting with ideas.

What I’d Tell Another Beginner

If you're thinking about learning Django, but feel unsure—do it. You don’t need to be perfect at Python. You don’t need to fully understand everything at first. Just start with the basics and let yourself explore from there.

Django isn’t always beginner-perfect, but it is beginner-friendly in its own way. Once things start to click, it’s a great framework for building serious projects without getting overwhelmed by setup.

The key is to start simple, follow good tutorials, and build things you care about—even if they’re small. Don’t worry about the things you don’t know yet. Like I said, I’m still a beginner. I’ve only been learning Django for about a month. I haven’t touched Django REST Framework yet. I still get stuck sometimes. And that’s okay.

Final Thoughts

Learning Django helped me see web development in a new light. I used to avoid anything too technical behind the scenes, but now I’m enjoying the challenge. It’s not because I suddenly became amazing at it—but because Django made the learning process smoother, and more fun.

If you’re confused or intimidated by Django right now, you’re not alone. Just keep going. Follow one tutorial at a time. Break stuff. Fix it. Eventually, it starts to make sense.

And when it does, it feels pretty great.

Photo by Faisal on Unsplash

I Was Intimidated by Django—Now I'm Building Projects with It

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