What you need to start

To take the most of this book you need basic knowledge in Python, Django and Git. That said the setup you will encounter in the next chapters is kept as basic as possible, so even beginners can follow along.

This book will be based on the version stated in the list below. It is possible to follow the steps with different versions. The general steps will be the same, but there might be small differences.

Prerequisites

Python 3.8+
Git
PostgreSQL 11+
GitLab Account
Heroku Account

This version of the book assumes you are using MacOS. You can follow this book on Windows and Linux as well by adjusting the commands accordingly.

Python and Git

Make sure you have Python and Git installed on your system. The easiest way is to google install python 3 on mac and install git on mac. Chances are that Python and Git are already available on your system. While the Git version is not that important, your Python version should be version 3 or above.

PostgreSQL

Generally speaking you can work with any database that Django and Heroku support. (Note: SQLite is not supported). This book is based on PostgreSQL, because you don’t need any additional elements on Heroku and it is easy to setup on Django. Since we are only setting up the database and not do specific interactions with it, the PostgreSQL version you are using is not significant. To see if your version works with Heroku, see this list.

GitLab account

To follow along you need an GitLab account.

Why GitLab and not Github?

Usually it does not matter that much if you use GitLab or GitHub. GitHub is comfortably integrated in Heroku. You can even create GitHub actions to create similar workflows for your Heroku deployment, as we do with GitLab in this book. I personally find working with the GitLab CI/CD pipeline more convenient.

Heroku account and Heroku CLI

Last but not least, you obviously need an Heroku account to deploy your Django app on Heroku. The good thing about Heroku is, that it is free (how we use it) and scalable (if needed).

Please make also sure that you have installed the Heroku Commandline Interface (CLI).

Checklist

✔︎ Python 3+ is installed

Terminal (any window)

python --version

→ Outputs python version 3+

Depending on how you installed Python 3, you have to use python3 --version or even python3.8 --version instead.

✔︎ Git is installed

Terminal (any window)

git --version

→ Outputs any Git version

✔︎ PostgreSQL is installed

Terminal (any window)

postgres --version

→ Outputs any PostgreSQL version. Ideally 11+

✔︎ GitLab or GitHub account created

✔︎ Heroku account created

✔︎ Heroku CLI installed

Terminal (any window)

heroku --version

→ Outputs any Heroku CLI version

What you need to start