Lily Foote, an experienced Python and Django developer, discusses their involvement in open source, the significance of the DB defaults ticket in Django 5.0, challenges with test coverage, integration testing using playwright, their experience as navigators in the Django project, plans for a recap of an upcoming application round, exploring alternatives to Django's ORM, and the potential future direction of Colo for local development.
Lily Foote discusses the importance of DB Defaults in Django 5.0, allowing for defining default values for model fields at the database level, improving convenience and data security.
Lily Foote introduces Colo, a dynamic code analysis tool for local development, aiming to become a reliable testing tool for Django and other frameworks, with plans to allow contributions and extend integrations through plugins.
Deep dives
Lily's Journey to Django and Open Source
Lilyfoot shares her journey to Django and open source development. She initially pursued mathematics in university but later became interested in programming. She discovered Django as a recommended web framework for Python and eventually turned it into a career. Lilyfoot also highlights the influence of colleagues in Oxford and their involvement in open source, which motivated her to contribute to Django. She reflects on her experiences attending DjangoCons and the impact they had on her involvement in the community.
Django 5.0 Feature: DB Defaults
Lilyfoot discusses her work on the DB Defaults ticket for Django 5.0. She explains that DB Defaults allow defining default values for model fields at the database level, providing the ability to inform the database of the default value. This feature has practical applications when working with non-Django systems that use the same database. It adds convenience and improves security by ensuring default values are enforced even when editing data outside of Django. Lilyfoot highlights the significance of this feature and its impact on development workflows.
Lilyfoot's Involvement in the Django ORM
Lilyfoot shares her involvement in the Django ORM and her contributions to the project. She mentions her early work on query expressions, which she needed for her job at the time. Lilyfoot primarily focuses on the ORM and finds value in sticking around the Django community to learn from experienced ORM developers. She also talks about her desire for more worked examples and resources to improve understanding and usage of the Django ORM.
Colo and Lilyfoot's Future Plans
Lilyfoot introduces Colo, a dynamic code analysis tool for local development. She explains that Colo aims to become a go-to tool for local development, not just for Django but also for other frameworks like Flask and FastAPI. Lilyfoot envisions a future where Colo provides a reliable and efficient testing tool for developers. She also expresses her desire to allow contributions and extend Colo's integrations through plugins. Currently, the focus is on improving test generation in Colo.