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How Long Does It Take To Learn Django?


How Long Does It Take To Learn Django?

According to the 2020 developer survey conducted by stackoverflow, Django is the most wanted backend framework. There are plenty of professional or aspiring web developers looking to learn Django, so it’s a reasonable thing to ask: how does the learning curve look like? How much time does it take to learn Django?

Learning Django takes about 3 months on average, but it could take you from a few weeks up to a year. It depends on your previous programming experience and the amount of effort you put in daily. It also depends on the desired level of expertise: mastering Django can take years, but learning enough to set up basic projects can be just a matter of days.

Prerequisites - How Much Python Do You Need To Know To Learn Django?

Django is built on Python, so obviously you need to be somewhat comfortable with Python before picking up Django. It can take some time to get there if you’re new to Python or programming in general, but it’s an important step, so do yourself a favor and don’t skip the basics.

However you don’t need to be a Python pro at all: in the beginning you don’t need to know ins and outs of the language, but there are some essential concepts and techniques, that you must be familiar with.

To help you out, I’ve created a Python learning roadmap specifically for Django. It aids you in focusing on the important parts if your goal is to learn Django. You can use it as a checklist as you learn (or refresh your knowledge of) Python.

How Long Until You Are Able To Write Your First Django App?

If you are comfortable with Python, and maybe have some previous web development experience in other frameworks, you can just blaze through the official Django tutorial. In a few hours you’ll have your very first Django app up and running. It might take a bit longer if you’re new to web development, but not too much: you should be able to work through the tutorial in a few days.

Of course, this does not make you a Django developer yet, at this point you’d still have quite a lot to learn.

How Long Until You Get Hired As A Django Developer?

It could easily take a few months to get to the level where you can take a chance at applying for entry-level positions. You should spend this time learning and practicing, but also try to build your portfolio: your future employers will need some sort of proof that you are a competent developer. Try to work on some small projects and/or contribute to open source projects.

How Long Does It Take To Master Django?

Companies generally consider someone a senior developer when he/she has at least 3-5 years of experience (the number varies widely, in extreme cases it can be as low as 1-2, but can also be 10+ years).

The important thing to note here, is that you probably won’t arrive to a place where you know everything about Django, but obviously after a few years of working with the same technology the pace of learning slows down. You might still learn new things occasionally but you won’t have too many surprises after a year or two.

That said, there is a huge and continuously growing list of extensions and libraries built for or on top of Django, so the learning never really stops.

Should You Learn Django? Is It Worth The Effort?

It is absolutely worth the effort to learn Django, there is high demand for good Django developers of every level in almost every industry.

It is one of the most widely used web frameworks and it does not show any signs of losing popularity. It is a mature, solid framework with a very active community. This guarantees, that it’s worth taking the time to learn Django as it is a future-proof investment: it is not just a fad or a quick hype, Django is here to stay for the foreseeable future.

It’s worth noting that the same stands for Python as well: Django is built on top of a proven, stable and widely supported technology.

If you’re still not convinced, check my full article on the topic: Is Django worth learning?

Summary

It takes years to master the ins and outs of Django, but the basics are quite easy to pick up - if you are somewhat comfortable in Python. You can achieve it in a few days or weeks, depending on your previous experience and the effort you put in.

At the end of the day, the time it takes for you to become a Django developer mostly depends on you. The best time to start learning is today!

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