The document discusses the evaluation of various Django packages using a comprehensive scoring system based on criteria such as purpose, scope, documentation, testing, community activity, modularity, availability on PyPI, version control/hosting, and licensing. It details the scoring methods for these categories and presents winners from different rounds of assessment, including the best packages for API creation and fundamentals. The approach taken is akin to a consumer reports-style analysis, aimed at helping users choose the best Django packages.

1. by Audrey Roy and Daniel Greenfeld
@audreyr / @pydanny
1

2. Audrey Roy
• Python & Django developer
for Cartwheel Web / RevSys
• MIT ’04, EE/CS
• PyLadies,
djangopackages.com,
OpenComparison
Django Packages Thunderdome
(Packaginator)
•
@pydanny / @audreyr
Fiancée of Daniel
Greenfeld (pydanny) http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisjrn/6102009780/
2

3. Daniel Greenfeld
• Python & Django developer for
Cartwheel Web / RevSys
• Learned Python at NASA
• djangopackages.com,
OpenComparison
(Packaginator), django-uni-form
Django Packages Thunderdome
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pydanny/4442245488/
• Fiancé of Audrey Roy (audreyr)
@pydanny / @audreyr
3

4. A Year+ of Package
Comparisons
• We launched
djangopackages.com
July 2010
• We’ve seen the
Django package
Django Packages Thunderdome
ecosystem grow and
change
@pydanny / @audreyr
4

5. Why a Thunderdome?
• Pattern: you hear about the “best” package for
X, and you use it
• Comparison grids on djangopackages.com help
• but not 100% effective/objective
• Why not a Consumer Reports-style analysis?
Django Packages Thunderdome
• This is what a Django community manager
@pydanny / @audreyr
would do
5

6. Our review criteria
What makes your package worthy?
6

7. 1. Purpose
• The name tells you what it does
• “django-” prefix says it’s a Django package
• Even better if coupled with a related
Python package
Django Packages Thunderdome
• The package addresses a real need
@pydanny / @audreyr
7

8. Scoring: Purpose
Range: 0 to +15
• Descriptive name: +5
• “django-” prefix: +5
• Incredibly useful purpose: +5
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
8

9. 2. Scope
• Small scope, narrow focus is better
• Application logic will be tighter
• Patching/replacing the app will be
Django Packages Thunderdome
easier
@pydanny / @audreyr
9

10. Scoring: Scope
Range: -5 to +5
• Does one thing: +5
• Does two things: 0
• Does three or more things: -5
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
10

11. 3. Documentation
• No docs means your app is pre-alpha
• Doc strings do not suffice as
documentation
• If there are dependencies, they should be
in your docs
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Installation steps should be bulletproof
@pydanny / @audreyr
11

12. Scoring: Docs
Range: -5o to +15
• Docs folder in RST/Sphinx format: +10
• Displayed on http://rtfd.org: +5
• Lousy Docs (wiki for example): -5 to -20
• Only README + docstrings: -10
Django Packages Thunderdome
• No docs: -50
@pydanny / @audreyr
12

13. 4. Testing
• Tests improve reliability
• Tests make it easy to advance Python/
Django versions
• Tests make it easier for others to
Django Packages Thunderdome
contribute effectively
@pydanny / @audreyr
13

14. Scoring: Tests
Range: -50 to +15
• Public Jenkins site: +5
• django_coverage/coverage.py: +5
• Well done tests: +5
• No Tests: -10
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Placeholder tests: -50
@pydanny / @audreyr
14

15. 5. Activity
• When was the last commit?
• How frequent are commits?
• Are there periodic version updates?
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
15

16. Scoring: Activity
Range: 0 to +15
• Last commit up to 3 months ago: +15
• Last commit up to 6 months ago: +10
• Last commit up to 1 year ago: +5
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
16

17. 6. Community
• Active community leader(s)
• How many people are contributing?
• Proper attribution of authors?
• CONTRIBUTORS.txt?
Django Packages Thunderdome
• README
@pydanny / @audreyr
17

18. Scoring: Community
Range: 0 to +35
• Active community leader: +10
• Lots of divergent forks? Then no
• Number of contributors = # of points
• Maximum of 20 points
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Proper attribution: +5
@pydanny / @audreyr
18

19. 7. Modularity
• “Pluggability”
• Installation should be minimally invasive
• Do not confuse modularity with over
Django Packages Thunderdome
engineering
@pydanny / @audreyr
19

20. Scoring: Modularity
Range: -20 t0 +20
• Just add to up to these things:
• INSTALLED_APPS
• MIDDLEWARE
• urls.py
Django Packages Thunderdome
• models.py in a few cases
@pydanny / @audreyr
• A few custom settings
+20
20

21. Scoring: Modularity
• Having to write your own custom code/
backends from scratch
• Having to write your own templates
• Having to study the code to make it work
Django Packages Thunderdome
• More framework than pluggable
@pydanny / @audreyr
-5 for any of these violations
21

22. 8. Availability on PyPI
• Actually on PyPI
• Latest release on PyPI
• Should not have to go to repo for
working version
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Proper version numbers
@pydanny / @audreyr
22

23. Scoring: PyPI Availability
Range: 0 to +30
• Latest release download link on PyPI: +15
• Latest stable release +5
• Historical versions kept on PyPI: +5
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Good versioning scheme: +5
@pydanny / @audreyr
23

24. 9. VCS/Hosting
• Great: Github or BitBucket
• Okay: Launchpad or SourceForge
• Outdated: Google Project Hosting
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Poor: Your own site
@pydanny / @audreyr
24

25. Scoring: VCS/Hosting
Range: -20 t0 +20
• Github or BitBucket: +20
• Launchpad or SourceForge: +5
• Google Project Hosting: +0
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Hosting your own VCS: -20
@pydanny / @audreyr
25

26. 10. License
• You need a license
• Companies prefer BSD or MIT licenses
• http://opensource.org/licenses/category
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
26

27. Scoring: License
Range: -15 to +5
• BSD or MIT license: +5
• Any other formal license: 0
• Custom license: -5 to -15
Django Packages Thunderdome
• No license: -15
@pydanny / @audreyr
27

28. Thunderdome
Fight, packages! Fight!
28

29. A quick warning
• We’re just kidding about the fighting
• Friendly, “constructive criticism”
• Use our feedback to help improve your
favorite package
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Think of us as your friendly Django
@pydanny / @audreyr
community managers (during the talk)
29

30. How packages were
chosen for this
• We sent out a survey and chose the:
★ most commonly-used packages
★ most interesting packages
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Not direct one-to-one comparisons
@pydanny / @audreyr
30

31. Round 1
API Creation
31

32. Contenders: API Creation
They’re all a little different:
• django-piston
• django-tastypie
• djangorestframework
Django Packages Thunderdome
• django-xmlrpc
@pydanny / @audreyr
32

33. django- django- djangorestframe django-
API Creation piston tastypie work xmlrpc
Purpose 10 10 10 15
Scope 5 5 5 5
Documentation -10 15 15 -10
Tests 5 10 15 -10
Activity 0 15 15 5
Community 5 30 27 6
Modularity -10 20 20 -5
PyPI 20 25 30 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 50 155 162 56
33

34. django- django- djangorestframe django-
API Creation piston tastypie work xmlrpc
Purpose 10 10 10 15
Scope 5 5 5 5
Documentation -10 15 15 -10
Tests 5 10 10 -10
Activity 0 15 15 5
Community 5 30 27 6
Modularity -10 20 -5 -5
PyPI 20 25 30 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 50 155 162 56
34

35. django- django- djangorestframe django-
API Creation piston tastypie work xmlrpc
Purpose 10 10 10 15
Scope 5 5 5 5
Documentation -10 15 15 -10
Tests 5 10 15 -10
Activity 0 15 15 5
Community 5 30 27 6
Modularity -10 20 -5 -5
PyPI 20 25 30 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 50 155 162 56
35

36. django- django- djangorestframe django-
API Creation piston tastypie work xmlrpc
Purpose 10 10 10 15
Scope 5 5 5 5
Documentation -10 15 15 -10
Tests 5 10 15 -10
Activity 0 15 15 5
Community 5 30 27 6
Modularity
PyPI
Jenkins!!! -10
20
20
25
20
30
-5
25
Django Packages Thunderdome
http://jenkins.tibold.nl/job/djangorestframework/
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 50 155 162 56
36

37. django- django- djangorestframe django-
API Creation piston tastypie work xmlrpc
Purpose 10 10 10 15
Scope 5 5 5 5
Documentation -10 15 15 -10
Tests 5 10 15 -10
Activity 0 15 Activity
15 5
Community
Modularity
5
-10
30
20
Community
27
20
6
-5
PyPI 20 25 30 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 50 155 162 56
37

38. Winners: API Creation
1. djangorestframework: 162 out of 175
points
2. django-tastypie: 155 out of 175 points
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
38

39. django- django- djangorestframe django-
API Creation piston tastypie work xmlrpc
Purpose 10 10 10 15
Scope 5 5 5 5
Documentation -10 15 15 -10
Tests 5 10 15 -10
Activity 0 15 15 5
Community 5 30 27 6
Modularity -10 20 20 -5
PyPI 20 25 30 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 50 155 162 56
39

40. Round 2
Fundamentals
40

41. Contenders: Fundamentals
2 utilities:
• django-debug-toolbar
• django-coverage
2 boilerplate-style “must need” pieces
Django Packages Thunderdome
• django-extensions
@pydanny / @audreyr
• Pinax
41

42. django- django- django-
Fundamentals debug-toolbar coverage extensions
Pinax
Purpose 15 15 15 10
Scope 5 5 -5 -5
Documentation -10 -10 15 10
Tests -10 -10 0 0
Activity 15 15 15 10
Community 35 25 30 35
Modularity 20 20 -10 -5
PyPI 25 25 30 20
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 0 5 5
Totals 120 105 115 100
42

43. django- django- django-
Fundamentals debug-toolbar coverage extensions
Pinax
Purpose 15 15 15 10
Scope 5 5 -5 -5
Documentation -10 -10 15 10
Tests -10 -10 0 0
Activity 15 15 15 10
Community 35 25 30 35
Modularity 20 20 -10 -5
PyPI 25 25 30 5
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 0 5 5
Totals 120 105 115 100
43

44. django- django- django-
Fundamentals debug-toolbar coverage extensions
Pinax
Purpose 15 15 15 10
Scope 5 5 -5 -5
Documentation -10 -10 15 10
Tests -10 -10 0 0
Activity 15 15 15 10
Community 35 25 30 35
Modularity 20 20 -10 -5
PyPI 25 25 30 20
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 History unclear
20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5
on PyPI 5
0 5
Totals 120 105 115 100
44

45. Winners: Fundamentals
1. django-debug-toolbar: 120 out of 175 points
2. django-extensions: 115 out of 175 points
Note that this was obviously not a one-to-
Django Packages Thunderdome
one comparison, but a purely points-based
@pydanny / @audreyr
evaluation
45

46. django- django- django-
Fundamentals debug-toolbar coverage extensions
Pinax
Purpose 15 15 15 10
Scope 5 5 -5 -5
Documentation -10 -10 15 10
Tests -10 -10 0 0
Activity 15 15 15 10
Community 35 25 30 35
Modularity 20 20 -10 -5
PyPI 25 25 30 20
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 0 5 5
Totals 120 105 115 100
46

47. Round 3
Registration
47

48. Contenders: Registration
Different approaches:
• django-registration
• Pinax (accounts part)
• django-userena (registration+profiles)
Django Packages Thunderdome
• django-social-auth
@pydanny / @audreyr
48

49. django- Pinax django-
Registration registration (accounts)
django-userena
social-auth
Purpose 15 10 15 15
Scope 5 -5 -5 5
Documentation 10 10 15 10
Tests 5 0 5 0
Activity 15 10 15 15
Community 25 35 16 26
Modularity -15 -5 -10 -5
PyPI 15 20 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 100 100 101 116
49

50. django- Pinax django-
Registration registration (accounts)
django-userena
social-auth
Purpose 15 10 15 15
Scope 5 -5 -5 5
Documentation 10 10 Inaccurate authors list!
15 10
Tests 5 0 5 0
Activity 15 10 15 15
Community 25 35 16 26
Modularity -15 -5 -10 -5
PyPI 15 20 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 100 100 101 116
50

51. django- Pinax django-
Registration registration (accounts)
django-userena
social-auth
Purpose 15 10 15 15
Popular
Scope unofficial 5
mirror -5 -5 5
with templates? If the
Documentation 10 10 15 10
original had templates,
Tests common fork5would
this 0 5 0
not be needed
Activity 15 10 15 15
Community 25 35 16 26
Modularity -15 -5 -10 -5
PyPI 15 20 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 100 100 101 116
51

52. Winners: Registration
1. django-social-auth: 116 out of 175 points
2. django-userena: 101 out of 175 points
Interesting comment from survey:
Django Packages Thunderdome
“Site registration sucks and using Twitter, Facebook, or
@pydanny / @audreyr
Google auth is easier”
52

53. django- Pinax django-
Registration registration (accounts)
django-userena
social-auth
Purpose 15 10 15 15
Scope 5 0 -5 5
Documentation 10 10 15 10
Tests 5 0 5 0
Activity 15 10 15 15
Community 25 35 16 26
Modularity -15 -5 -10 -5
PyPI 15 5 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 100 90 101 116
53

54. Round 4
Profiles
54

55. Contenders: Profiles
Different approaches:
• django-profiles
• django-easy-profiles
• django-userena (registration+profiles)
Django Packages Thunderdome
• idios
@pydanny / @audreyr
55

56. django- django-easy-
Profiles profiles profiles
django-userena idios
Purpose 15 15 10 10
Scope 5 5 -5 5
Documentation 5 10 15 15
Tests -10 -10 5 5
Activity 0 15 15 15
Community 16 16 16 16
Modularity -5 -10 -5 20
PyPI 25 5 25 0
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 76 71 101 111
56

57. django- django-easy-
Profiles profiles profiles
django-userena idios
Purpose 15 15 10 10
Scope 5 5 -5 5
Documentation 5 10 15 15
Tests -10 -10 5 5
Activity 0 15 15 15
Community 16 16 16 16
Modularity -5 -10 -5 20
PyPI 25 5 25 0
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 76 71 101 111
57

58. Winners: Profiles
1. idios: 111 out of 175 points
2. django-userena: 101 out of 175 points
Room for improvement:
Django Packages Thunderdome
Low point values.
Few surveyed users knew of a good Django
@pydanny / @audreyr
profiles app.
Some roll their own each time.
58

59. django- django-easy-
Profiles profiles profiles
django-userena idios
Purpose 15 15 10 10
Scope 5 5 -5 5
Documentation 5 10 15 15
Tests -10 -10 5 5
Activity 0 15 15 15
Community 16 16 16 16
Modularity -5 -10 -5 20
PyPI 25 5 25 0
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5 5
Totals 76 71 101 111
59

60. Round 5
Blogs
60

61. Contenders: Blogs
Again, different approaches:
• biblion
• django-mingus
• django-basic-apps (blog part)
Django Packages Thunderdome
• django-blog-zinnia
@pydanny / @audreyr
61

62. django-basic- django-blog-
Blogs biblion django-mingus
apps (blog part) zinnia
Purpose 5 10 15 15
Scope 5 5 -5 5
Documentation -10 -5 -10 10
Tests -10 5 5 5
Activity 15 10 15 15
Community 15 32 10 35
Modularity -10 -15 -5 20
PyPI 0 0 0 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 -15 5
Totals 35 67 30 155
62

63. django-basic- django-blog-
Blogs biblion django-mingus
apps (blog part) zinnia
Purpose 5 10 15 15
Scope 5 5 -5 5
Documentation -10 -5 -10 10
Tests -10 5 5 5
Activity 15 10 15 15
Community 15 32 10 35
Modularity -10 -15 -5 20
PyPI 0 0 0 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 -15 5
Totals 35 67 30 155
63

64. Winner: Blogs
1. django-blog-zinnia: 155 out of 175 points
Most points by a landslide.
So many blog packages exist that this gets buried.
Django Packages Thunderdome
Note that biblion is early/pre-alpha. With docs, it
@pydanny / @audreyr
could become a promising option for 1 blog per
profile sites.
64

65. Round 6
Tagging
65

66. Contenders: Tagging
A closer comparison here:
• django-taggit
• django-tagging
Django Packages Thunderdome
• django-tagging-ng
@pydanny / @audreyr
66

67. Tagging django-taggit django-tagging django-tagging-ng
Purpose 15 15 15
Scope 5 5 5
Documentation 15 0 0
Tests 5 0 5
Activity 10 0 5
Community 26 15 12
Modularity 20 20 20
PyPI 25 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5
Totals 146 105 112
67

68. Tagging django-taggit django-tagging django-tagging-ng
Purpose 15 15 15
Scope 5 5 5
Documentation 15 0 0
Tests 5 0 5
Activity 10 0 5
Community 26 15 12
Modularity 20 20 20
PyPI 25 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5
Totals 146 105 112
68

69. Winner: Tagging
1. django-taggit: 146 out of 175 points
Sets the bar for the other packages. High points
for all compared.
Django Packages Thunderdome
“Stable API and responsive dev”
@pydanny / @audreyr
“Lots of magic under the hood, though”
69

70. Tagging django-taggit django-tagging django-tagging-ng
Purpose 15 15 15
Scope 5 5 5
Documentation 15 0 0
Tests 5 0 5
Activity 10 0 5
Community 26 15 12
Modularity 20 20 20
PyPI 25 25 25
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 5 5 5
Totals 146 105 112
70

71. Round 7
Database Migrations
71

72. Contenders: DB Migrations
Only 2 good options to even evaluate:
• South
• nashvegas
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
72

73. Database Migrations South nashvegas
Purpose 5 5
Scope 5 5
Documentation 15 15
Tests 5 -10
Activity 15 10
Community 30 22
Modularity 20 15
PyPI 25 30
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 0 5
Totals 140 117
73

74. Database Migrations South nashvegas
Purpose 5 5
Scope 5 5
Documentation 15 15
Tests 5 -10
Activity 15 10
Community If nashvegas 22 tests plus one
11 had
Modularity
other higher 15
20
sub-score, it could
have won!
PyPI 25 30
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 0 5
Totals 140 117
74

75. Winners: DB Migrations
1. South: 140 out of 175 points
2. nashvegas: 117 out of 175 points
“I’m looking forward to someone else cha#enging this
space but South is by far the best that we currently have”
Django Packages Thunderdome
“South is the de facto standard...sti# run into more
@pydanny / @audreyr
%iction on managing DB changes than I care for, but it’s
a lot better than doing without.”
75

76. Database Migrations South nashvegas
Purpose 5 5
Scope 5 5
Documentation 15 15
Tests 5 -10
Activity 15 10
Community 30 22
Modularity 20 15
PyPI 25 30
Django Packages Thunderdome
VCS/Hosting 20 20
@pydanny / @audreyr
License 0 5
Totals 140 117
76

77. Best of the best
Who got the most points?
77

78. Leaderboard
1. djangorestframework: 162 points
2. django-tastypie: 155 points
django-blog-zinnia: 155 points (tie)
3. django-taggit: 146 points
4. South: 140 points
5. django-debug-toolbar: 120 points
6. nashvegas: 117 points
Django Packages Thunderdome
7. django-social-auth: 116 points
@pydanny / @audreyr
8. django-extensions: 115 points
9. django-tagging-ng: 112 points
10. idios: 111 points
78

79. Honorable mentions
What the surveyed users said
79

80. They also can’t live without
• celery & django-celery with redis
• django-haystack with pysolr, sometimes
whoosh
• django-fixture-generator, django-sorting,
Django Packages Thunderdome
django-pagination, django-uni-form,
django-floppy-forms
@pydanny / @audreyr
80

81. Summary
The key to a prize-winning Django package
81

82. Judging Report
• http://bit.ly/django-thunderdome-2011
• A detailed report is available (PDF)
Django Packages Thunderdome
@pydanny / @audreyr
82

83. Score high on the base criteria
• Purpose (0 to +15) • Community (0 to +35)
• Scope (-5 to +5) • Modularity (-20 to +20)
• Docs (-50 to +15) • PyPI Availability (0 to +30)
• Tests (-50 to +15) • VCS/Hosting (-20 to +20)
• Activity (0 to +15) • License (-15 to +5)
Maximum Score: +175
83

84. Beyond the base criteria
• Run code through PEP8 checker
• Aim for 100% test coverage
• Elegant, clean, explicit ways of doing things
•
Django Packages Thunderdome
Minimize magical code
@pydanny / @audreyr
84

85. How to get more users for
your package
Use djangopackages.com to find similar packages
• Add a grid (if needed)
• Add your package to the grid
• Add grid features
Django Packages Thunderdome
• Make yours better than its competitors
@pydanny / @audreyr
85

86. • Tweet your self-calculated score at
@pydanny and @audreyr
• We’ll evaluate it ourselves
Django Packages Thunderdome
• If it ranks high, we’ll help spread the word
@pydanny / @audreyr
• (conference bandwidth-permitting)
86

87. Thank you
• Twitter: @pydanny & @audreyr
• PyLadies meetup/party: Wed 8pm
• http://pyladies.com/blog/pyladies-
Django Packages Thunderdome
meetup-at-djangocon/
@pydanny / @audreyr
• PyLadies open space: Thurs 1-1:30pm
87