Django Learning Tutorial: Where to Edit `views.py` and `urls.py` (Project vs App Explained)

[Rajeev Bagra]

When learning Django, one of the most confusing questions for beginners is:

❓ “Should I edit views.py and urls.py in the main project folder or inside my app?”

In this tutorial, you will learn:

✅ The difference between Project and App
✅ Where views.py should go
✅ Where urls.py should go
✅ How everything connects together

By the end, this confusion will be completely clear.

---

🔹 Step 1: Understanding Django’s Two Main Parts

Every Django website has two main layers:

1️⃣ Project (Main Controller)

• Controls the whole website
• Handles settings and main routing
• Created using startproject

2️⃣ App (Feature Module)

• Handles specific features (tasks, blog, users, etc.)
• Created using startapp

Think of it like this:

Part	Example
Project	The whole company
App	One department (Tasks, Blog, Users)

---

🔹 Step 2: Typical Django Folder Structure

After creating a project and app, your folders usually look like this:

myproject/
│
├── myproject/        ← Main Project Folder
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py       ← Project URLs
│   └── wsgi.py
│
├── tasks/            ← App Folder
│   ├── views.py      ← App Views
│   ├── models.py
│   ├── urls.py       ← App URLs (you create this)
│   └── templates/
│
└── manage.py

This structure is very important in Django.

---

🔹 Step 3: Where Do We Write views.py Code?

When you add this function:

def add(request):
    return render(request, "tasks/add.html")

👉 It must go inside:

tasks/views.py

✅ Correct Location

# tasks/views.py

from django.shortcuts import render

def add(request):
    return render(request, "tasks/add.html")

❌ Wrong Location

Do NOT put this in:

myproject/views.py   ❌

(Usually, this file doesn’t even exist.)

---

📌 Why in the App?

Because:

• Views belong to features
• Each app manages its own logic
• Keeps code clean and organized

So:

👉 Task logic → tasks/views.py

---

🔹 Step 4: Where Do We Write path() in urls.py?

Django uses two levels of URL files:

Level	File	Purpose
Project	myproject/urls.py	Main router
App	tasks/urls.py	Feature routes

---

🔹 Step 4A: Create tasks/urls.py

Inside the tasks folder, create:

tasks/urls.py

Then add:

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path("add", views.add, name="add"),
]

This is where:

path("add", views.add, name="add")

belongs.

---

🔹 Step 4B: Connect App URLs to Project URLs

Now open:

myproject/urls.py

Edit it like this:

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
    path("", include("tasks.urls")),
]

This line is very important:

include("tasks.urls")

It tells Django:

👉 “Load URLs from the tasks app.”

---

🔹 Step 5: How Django Handles a Request

When a user visits:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/add

Django works like this:

Browser
   ↓
Project urls.py
   ↓
include(tasks.urls)
   ↓
App urls.py
   ↓
views.add
   ↓
add.html

So:

1️⃣ Project receives request
2️⃣ Sends it to app
3️⃣ App finds view
4️⃣ View shows template

---

🔹 Step 6: Simple Rule to Remember

Memorize this rule:

✅ Views → Always in App
✅ URL paths → In App
✅ Main URL file → Connects Apps

File	Location
views.py	Inside app folder
path()	Inside app urls.py
include()	Inside project urls.py

---

🔹 Step 7: Common Beginner Mistake

Many beginners write everything in:

myproject/urls.py

Example (Bad Practice):

path("add", views.add)

This works, but:

❌ Makes project messy
❌ Hard to scale
❌ Breaks modular design

Django is built for modular apps, so each app should manage its own URLs.

---

🔹 Step 8: Why Django Uses This Design

Django uses this structure to help you:

✔ Reuse apps in other projects
✔ Manage big websites easily
✔ Avoid mixing unrelated code
✔ Work in teams better

Professional Django projects always follow this pattern.

---

🏁 Final Summary

Let’s answer the original question clearly:

❓ Are we updating views.py in the main project or app?

✅ Answer:

Item	Location
def add()	tasks/views.py
path("add")	tasks/urls.py
include()	myproject/urls.py

---

In One Line:

👉 Write logic in the app.
👉 Route it in the app.
👉 Connect everything in the project.

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