I like the Django framework a lot, and really wanted to like this book, but I’m afraid it was pushed to market long before it was ready. There are several cases in the book where I feel the author introduces something, but leaves off pertinent information required to override Django defaults and get what he suggested to work (e. g. using the numerical representation for months in a URL rather than the three-digit representation). Also, there are many places in the book where the author is describing code, but doesn’t state very clearly where the code should go. Finally, the author refers to the book’s accompanying source code, but that source code doesn’t exist. The publisher told me a month ago that they’ve been in contact with the author, and that the source code will be available “shortly,” but it is still unavailable. How many months has the book been out? On the plus side, I think the author’s projects are useful, and with the exception of his use of Markdown for submitting blog entries (in my opinion, he should have showed the use of TinyMCE there as well), well thought out. I also think the author does a good job of introducing the reader to a wide range of Django knowledge. I’m taking one star away for the lack of clarity in several areas, and one away for the missing source code. If the publisher had fixed the ambiguities, missing information, and had the source code available prior to release, this could easily have been a five-star book for learning Django.

This book would totally be 5 stars if the source code was there. It really lays out how to work with Django and understand best practices, but if you’re a “code-along-with-the-book” kind of person, you’re going to be SEVERELY disappointed since there’s no source code to check against the book, not anywhere. This lack of source code would be excusable if this was a fresh title and there seemed to be an effort to get the source code out, but after searching the blogs and finding an excuse by the author over a year back saying “I have a day job”, well that’s just inexcusable. I’d almost give it two stars for the excuse, but the content of the book itself is very good, except for the thirty or so references to “getting to source code from the Apress site”. Shame on Apress. This book sits on my shelf as a reference for best practices and a collection of white papers for extending my projects, but I would consider this a third choice. If you’re already comfortable with django and “get” everything that’s going on, go for this book. If you’re still a little “noob-ish” on the topic, move on.