Using Python, Django and MySQL in a Database Course

摘要

Software applications designed with a three-tiered architecture consisting of a web based user interface, a logic layer and a database back end are very common. A natural place to introduce this architecture into the undergraduate curriculum is in a Database Management Systems course. One of the challenges in doing this is to find an easily accessible environment in which students can develop applications. This paper describes such an environment using the programming language Python, a lightweight web server and framework called Django, and a MySQL database. This software is freely available and students can install all three pieces of software on their own machines. Students can quickly develop a simple application and use it as a foundation on which more elaborate features can be built. This paper describes these tools through the development of a simple web application.