Why Every Automation Tester Should Learn Django in 2026

# Create an isolated environment and a Django project
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate        # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install django pytest pytest-django

django-admin startproject shopqa .
python manage.py startapp orders

# Add 'orders' to INSTALLED_APPS in shopqa/settings.py, then:
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

# orders/models.py
from decimal import Decimal
from django.db import models


class Order(models.Model):
    customer = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    amount = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2)
    coupon = models.CharField(max_length=20, blank=True)

    def final_amount(self):
        if self.coupon == "SAVE10":
            return (self.amount * Decimal("0.9")).quantize(Decimal("0.01"))
        return self.amount

# orders/tests/test_models.py
from decimal import Decimal
import pytest
from orders.models import Order


@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_coupon_save10_gives_ten_percent_off():
    order = Order.objects.create(customer="Asha", amount=Decimal("500.00"), coupon="SAVE10")
    assert order.final_amount() == Decimal("450.00")


@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_no_coupon_keeps_full_amount():
    order = Order.objects.create(customer="Ravi", amount=Decimal("500.00"))
    assert order.final_amount() == Decimal("500.00")

# orders/views.py
from django.http import JsonResponse
from .models import Order

def order_detail(request, pk):
    order = Order.objects.get(pk=pk)
    return JsonResponse({"id": order.pk, "final": str(order.final_amount())})

# orders/tests/test_api.py
from decimal import Decimal
import pytest
from orders.models import Order

@pytest.mark.django_db
def test_order_detail_returns_final_amount(client):
    order = Order.objects.create(customer="Asha", amount=Decimal("200.00"), coupon="SAVE10")
    response = client.get(f"/orders/{order.pk}/")
    assert response.status_code == 200
    assert response.json()["final"] == "180.00"

# shopqa/urls.py needs: path("orders/<int:pk>/", views.order_detail)

# orders/tests/test_ui.py
from django.contrib.staticfiles.testing import StaticLiveServerTestCase
from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By


class HomePageTest(StaticLiveServerTestCase):
    @classmethod
    def setUpClass(cls):
        super().setUpClass()
        options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()
        options.add_argument("--headless=new")
        cls.driver = webdriver.Chrome(options=options)

    @classmethod
    def tearDownClass(cls):
        cls.driver.quit()
        super().tearDownClass()

    def test_admin_login_page_loads(self):
        self.driver.get(f"{self.live_server_url}/admin/login/")
        self.assertIn("Log in", self.driver.title)
        self.assertTrue(self.driver.find_element(By.NAME, "username").is_displayed())

# pytest.ini (project root)
[pytest]
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = shopqa.settings
python_files = tests.py test_*.py *_tests.py
addopts = -ra --strict-markers

# Run everything:
#   pytest
# Run only fast tests:
#   pytest orders/tests/test_models.py orders/tests/test_api.py

# conftest.py — shared pytest fixtures
from decimal import Decimal
import pytest
from orders.models import Order


@pytest.fixture
def discounted_order(db):
    return Order.objects.create(customer="Test User", amount=Decimal("1000.00"), coupon="SAVE10")


@pytest.fixture
def logged_in_client(client, django_user_model):
    user = django_user_model.objects.create_superuser("qa_admin", "qa@example.com", "Str0ng-pass!")
    client.force_login(user)
    return client

# pip install factory_boy
# orders/tests/factories.py
from decimal import Decimal
import factory
from orders.models import Order


class OrderFactory(factory.django.DjangoModelFactory):
    class Meta:
        model = Order

    customer = factory.Sequence(lambda n: f"customer{n}")
    amount = Decimal("250.00")
    coupon = ""

# Usage in a test (needs the db fixture):
# orders = OrderFactory.create_batch(20)

# .github/workflows/tests.yml
name: tests
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: "3.12"
      - run: pip install django pytest pytest-django factory_boy
      - run: pytest -m "not slow"