Twenty years after a scrappy newsroom team hacked together a framework to ship stories fast, Django remains the Python web framework that ships real apps, responsibly. In this anniversary roundtable with its creators and long-time stewards: Simon Willison, Adrian Holovaty, Will Vincent, Jeff Triplett, and Thibaud Colas, we trace the path from the Lawrence Journal-World to 1.0, DjangoCon, and the DSF; unpack how a BSD license and a culture of docs, tests, and mentorship grew a global community; and revisit lessons from deployments like Instagram. We talk modern Django too: ASGI and async, HTMX-friendly patterns, building APIs with DRF and Django Ninja, and how Django pairs with React and serverless without losing its batteries-included soul. You’ll hear about Django Girls, Djangonauts, and the Django Fellowship that keep momentum going, plus where Django fits in today’s AI stacks. Finally, we look ahead at the next decade of speed, security, and sustainability.
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Links from the show
GuestsSimon Willison:
simonwillison.netAdrian Holovaty:
holovaty.comWill Vincent:
wsvincent.comJeff Triplett:
jefftriplett.comThibaud Colas:
thib.meShow LinksDjango's 20th Birthday Reflections (Simon Willison):
simonwillison.netHappy 20th Birthday, Django! (Django Weblog):
djangoproject.comDjango 2024 Annual Impact Report:
djangoproject.comWelcome Our New Fellow: Jacob Tyler Walls:
djangoproject.comSoundslice Music Learning Platform:
soundslice.comDjangonaut Space Mentorship for Django Contributors:
djangonaut.spaceWagtail CMS for Django:
wagtail.orgDjango REST Framework:
django-rest-framework.orgDjango Ninja API Framework for Django:
django-ninja.devLawrence Journal-World:
ljworld.comWatch this episode on YouTube:
youtube.comEpisode #518 deep-dive:
talkpython.fm/518Episode transcripts:
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