Updating Django project from 1.4 (if not older) to 1.7

[Abdulla Al-Khenji]

Hello all,

I have been assigned with updating a Django project that was last developed in 2012 to the latest version, fixing bugs, and security issues, and updating deprecated code to match the latest version.

Couple of questions I couldn't answer myself:

1) How can I check which version this application was built on?

2) I don't see a "manage.py" file anywhere, how can get that file? I need it to run the application on a local server at least.

3) How do I go about and actually "update" all the deprecated code?

4) Would you guys recommend that we start writing it again from scratch?

I have 4 weeks to do that, so time plays a crucial role here..

Thanks!

[Aaron C. de Bruyn]

It depends on a lot of things.

1. You can try running:

python

from django import get_version

print get_version()

2. If you don't see manage.py in the root directory, you are probably using a very old version of django.  I would start by creating a virtualenv running an early version of Django (maybe 1.2) and get the application running.  Then slowly upgrade (1.3, then 1.4, etc...) until you get up to 1.7.  Follow the upgrade instructions here: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/releases/

If there isn't much code to the app, I would start with a clean project and slowly move the required apps over to the new project.  But it all depends on the time you have available and the amount of code to work with.

3. Follow the steps in the release notes.  Possibly use a tool like 'grep' if you are in a Linux environment to search through the code for deprecated modules.  If the application has a good set of tests, they should tell you what's broken.

4. Depends on how much code, how much time, and how efficient you are as a programmer.  If you've got four weeks, but only need 90 minutes of sleep every night, most projects can be re-written from scratch.  ;)

If it seems too daunting, you can always post specific questions herep--or even find someone (https://www.djangojobs.net/jobs/) to help you professionally.

-A

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[Derek]

Maybe a long shot... but if the project was designed to run in a virtualenv, then there may be a requirements.txt file which will describe what is needed to run it, including the Django version.