Skip the Overhead: Lean Web Development with Django

Do we really need complex JavaScript frameworks to build interactive websites? This talk argues we don’t. By combining Django, HTMX, and web components, we can create fast, interactive sites without unnecessary complexity.

To showcase how these advantages come together in practice, we’ll explore a small example. Introducing django-resume, a lightweight third-party Django app that adds a resume and CV section to your site—with no dependencies besides Django itself. It demonstrates:

• Achieving SPA-like behavior using HTMX with server-side rendering.
• Storing all data in a single JSONField to simplify database interactions and data export.
• Enabling inline editing with contenteditable elements and web components.
• Adding features through plugins without database migrations.
• Using JSON data with Large Language Models (LLMs) for content creation.