========================

Running Django on Jython

========================

.. index:: Jython, Java, JVM

Jython_ is an implementation of Python that runs on the Java platform (JVM).

Django runs cleanly on Jython version 2.5 or later, which means you can deploy

Django on any Java platform.

This document will get you up and running with Django on top of Jython.

.. _jython: http://www.jython.org/

Installing Jython

=================

Django works with Jython versions 2.5b3 and higher. Download Jython at 

http://www.jython.org/.

Creating a servlet container

============================

If you just want to experiment with Django, skip ahead to the next section;

Django includes a lightweight Web server you can use for testing, so you won't

need to set up anything else until you're ready to deploy Django in production.

If you want to use Django on a production site, use a Java servlet container,

such as `Apache Tomcat`_. Full JavaEE applications servers such as `GlassFish`_

or `JBoss`_ are also OK, if you need the extra features they include.

.. _`Apache Tomcat`: http://tomcat.apache.org/

.. _GlassFish: https://glassfish.dev.java.net/

.. _JBoss: http://www.jboss.org/

Installing Django

=================

The next step is to install Django itself. This is exactly the same as

installing Django on standard Python, so see

:ref:`removing-old-versions-of-django` and :ref:`install-django-code` for

instructions.

Installing Jython platform support libraries

============================================

The `django-jython`_ project contains database backends and management commands

for Django/Jython development. Note that the builtin Django backends won't work

on top of Jython.

.. _`django-jython`: http://code.google.com/p/django-jython/

To install it, follow the `installation instructions`_ detailed on the project

Web site. Also, read the `database backends`_ documentation there.

.. _`installation instructions`: http://code.google.com/p/django-jython/wiki/Install

.. _`database backends`: http://code.google.com/p/django-jython/wiki/DatabaseBackends

Differences with Django on Jython

=================================

.. index:: JYTHONPATH

At this point, Django on Jython should behave nearly identically to Django

running on standard Python. However, are a few differences to keep in mind:

    * Remember to use the ``jython`` command instead of ``python``. The

      documentation uses ``python`` for consistancy, but if you're using Jython

      you'll want to mentally replace ``python`` with ``jython`` every time it

      occurs.

    * Similarly, you'll need to use the ``JYTHONPATH`` environment variable

      instead of ``PYTHONPATH``.