What you need for this book

You will just need a computer (PC or Mac) and Internet connectivity to start with. Then, ensure that the following are installed:

• Python 3.4 (or Python 2.7, after reading Appendix, Python 2 Versus Python 3) or later
• Django 1.7 or later
• Text editor (or a Python IDE)
• Web browser (the latest version, please)

I recommend working on a Linux-based system such as Ubuntu or Arch Linux. If you are on Windows, you can work on a Linux virtual machine using Vagrant or VirtualBox. Here is a full disclosure: I prefer command-line interfaces, Emacs, and eggs sunny-side up.

Certain chapters might also require installing certain Python libraries or Django packages. They will be mentioned as, say—the factory_boy package. In most cases, they can be installed using pip as follows:

$ pip install factory_boy

Hence, it is highly recommended that you first create a separate virtual environment, as mentioned in Chapter 2, Application Design.