CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythondjangodjango-settings
tzenderman
tzenderman

Reputation: 2673

What's the difference between `from django.conf import settings` and `import settings` in a Django project

I'm reading up that most people do from django.conf import settings but I don't undertstand the difference to simply doing import settings in a django project file. Can anyone explain the difference?

Upvotes: 140

Views: 104480

Answers (2)

juliocesar
juliocesar

Reputation: 5876

import settings will import the first python module named settings.py found in sys.path. Usually (in default django setups) it allows access only to your site defined settings file, which overwrites django default settings (django.conf.global_settings).

So, if you try to access a valid django setting not specified in your settings file you will get an error.

django.conf.settings is not a file but an object (see source) making an abstraction of the concepts, default settings and your site-specific settings. Django also does other checks when you use from django.conf import settings.

You can also find it in the django docs.

Upvotes: 162

mansuetus
mansuetus

Reputation: 822

from django.conf import settings is better option.

I use different settings files for the same django project (one for "live", one for "dev"), the first one will select the one being executed.

Upvotes: 40

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