Build a To-Do application Using Django, React and Tailwind

This article will guide you in creating a To-Do application using React and Tailwind with the Django Framework. We’ll explore the integration of Django, React, and Tailwind, and go through the step-by-step process of implementing the To-Do application.

What is a To-Do application?

A To-Do application, also known as a task management or productivity app, is a software tool designed to help users organize, prioritize, and manage their tasks or activities. These applications are commonly used for personal and professional task management to enhance productivity and efficiency.

To-Do application Using Django, React and Tailwind

Here, is the step-by-step implementation of the To-Do application using React, Tailwind, and Django Framework in Python. Here, we will cover the article in 2 parts, frontend and then backend.

Backend Using Django

To start the project and app use this command

django-admin startproject book_backend
cd todo_backend
python manage.py startapp todos

Now add this app to the ‘settings.py’

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'todos',
    'rest_framework',
]

For install the rest_framework run the below command

pip install django-cors-headers

File Strutrue:

File Strcutrue :

Setting Necessary Files

models.py : below code defines a Django model named `Task` with two fields: a character field `task` with a maximum length of 100 characters, and a boolean field `completed` with a default value of `False`.

Python3

from django.db import models
 
class Task (models.Model):

    task = models.CharField(max_length=100)

    completed = models.BooleanField(default=False)

views.py : Below code defines several Django views using the Django Rest Framework. The `home` view retrieves all tasks from the `Task` model, serializes them using `TaskSerializer`, and returns the serialized data as a response. The `markCompleted` view marks a specific task as completed, the `postTask` view creates a new task, and the `deleteTask` view deletes a task based on the provided primary key.

Python3

from django.shortcuts import render

from rest_framework.decorators import api_view

from rest_framework.response import Response

from rest_framework import status

from .models import *

from .serializers import *
 
@api_view(['GET'])

def home(request):

    taskobj = Task.objects.all()

    print(taskobj)

    serializer = TaskSerializer(taskobj, many=True)

    return Response({'status': 200, 'payload': serializer.data})
 
@api_view(['POST'])

def markCompleted(request, pk):

    try:

        instance = Task.objects.get(pk=pk)

    except Task.DoesNotExist:

        return Response(status=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)

    instance.completed = True

    instance.save()

    return Response(status=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)
 
@api_view(['POST'])

def postTask(request):

    serializer = TaskSerializer(data=request.data)

    if serializer.is_valid():

        serializer.save()

        return Response(serializer.data, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)
 
@api_view(['DELETE'])

def deleteTask(request, pk):

    try:

        instance = Task.objects.get(pk=pk)

    except Task.DoesNotExist:

        return Response(status=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND)

    instance.delete()

    return Response(status=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)

serializers.py: below code defines a Django Rest Framework serializer named `TaskSerializer`, which inherits from `serializers.ModelSerializer`. It specifies the model as `Task` and includes all fields from the model in the serialization.

Python3

from rest_framework import serializers

from .models import *
 
class TaskSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):

    class Meta:

        model = Task

        fields = '__all__'

todo_backend/urls.py : Below code configures Django urlpatterns, directing the root URL to include the URLs defined in the ‘todos.urls’ module and providing access to the Django admin interface at the ‘/admin/’ path.

Python3

from django.contrib import admin

from django.urls import path,include
 
urlpatterns = [

    path('', include('todos.urls')),

    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
]

todos/urls.py : Below code configures Django urlpatterns for the ‘todos’ app, linking specific paths to respective views such as ‘home’, ‘postTask’, ‘deleteTask’, and ‘markCompleted’.

Python3

from .views import *

from django.urls import path
 
urlpatterns = [

    path('', home),

    path('task', postTask),

    path('task/delete/<int:pk>/', deleteTask),

    path('task/mark/<int:pk>/', markCompleted)
]

admin.py : Here we register our model.

Python3

from django.contrib import admin

from .models import *
 
admin.site.register(Task)

Frontend Using React + Tailwind

To start the project in react use this command

npx create-react-app todo_frontend
cd todo_frontend

Install the necessary library tailwindcss using the below command

npm install tailwindcss

File Structure :

File Strcutrue :

Creating User InterFace

App.css : below code of CSS styling for a React application. It defines styles for various elements within the app, such as centering text, setting the height and animation for the app logo, styling the header with a background color, and applying animation to spin the logo. The styles are designed for a visually appealing and responsive user interface.

CSS

.App {

  text-align: center;
}
 
.App-logo {

  height: 40vmin;

  pointer-events: none;
}
 
@media (prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference) {

  .App-logo {

    animation: App-logo-spin infinite 20s linear;

  }
}
 
.App-header {

  background-color: #282c34;

  min-height: 100vh;

  display: flex;

  flex-direction: column;

  align-items: center;

  justify-content: center;

  font-size: calc(10px + 2vmin);

  color: white;
}
 
.App-link {

  color: #61dafb;
}
 
@keyframes App-logo-spin {

  from {

    transform: rotate(0deg);

  }

  to {

    transform: rotate(360deg);

  }
}

App.js : `App` component in this React code manages a to-do list application. It fetches tasks on mount, allows adding tasks, and provides functionality for deleting and marking tasks as completed. The UI includes components for inputting tasks (`AddTask`) and displaying/managing tasks (`TaskView`).

Javascript

import './App.css';

import { useState, useEffect } from 'react';

import axios from '../src/axios'

import AddTask from './components/AddTask';

import TaskView from './components/TaskView';
 
function App() {

  const [allTasks, setAllTasks] = useState([]);

  const [query, setQuery] = useState("");
 
  useEffect(() => {

    axios.get("").then((res) => setAllTasks(res.data.payload));

  }, []);
 
  const handleDelete = (id) => {

    axios

      .delete(`/task/delete/${id}/`)

      .then(() => {

        setAllTasks((prevTasks) => prevTasks.filter((task) => task.id !== id));

      })

      .catch((error) => {

        console.error("Error deleting task:", error);

      });

  };
 
  const markCompleted = (id) => {

    axios

      .post(`/task/mark/${id}/`)

      .then(() => {

        setAllTasks((prevTasks) =>

          prevTasks.map((task) =>

            task.id === id ? { ...task, completed: true } : task

          )

        );

      })

      .catch((error) => {

        console.error("Error marking task as completed:", error);

      });

  };
 
  const postTask = () => {

    axios

      .post("/task", { task: query })

      .then((res) => {

        setQuery("");

        setAllTasks((prevTasks) => [...prevTasks, res.data]);

      })

      .catch((error) => {

        console.error("Error adding task:", error);

      });

  };
 
  return (

    <div>

      <AddTask query={query} onInputChange={setQuery} onPostTask={postTask} />

      <TaskView tasks={allTasks} onDelete={handleDelete} onMarkCompleted={markCompleted} />

    </div>

  );
};
 
export default App;

App.test.js: This React testing script uses `@testing-library/react` to render the `App` component and asserts that an element with the text “learn react” is present in the rendered output.

Python3

import { render, screen } from '@testing-library/react';

import App from './App'
 
test('renders learn react link', ()= > {

  render( < App / >)

  const linkElement=screen.getByText(/learn react/i)

  expect(linkElement).toBeInTheDocument()
})

index.css : These `@import` statements bring in the base, components, and utilities stylesheets of Tailwind CSS, enabling the use of its comprehensive utility classes in a project’s styling.

CSS

@import 'tailwindcss/base';

@import 'tailwindcss/components';

@import 'tailwindcss/utilities';

index.js : below code initializes a React root using `ReactDOM.createRoot` and renders the `App` component within a `React.StrictMode` wrapper. Additionally, it includes a call to `reportWebVitals` for performance measurement.

Javascript

import React from 'react';

import ReactDOM from 'react-dom/client';

import './index.css';

import App from './App';

import reportWebVitals from './reportWebVitals';
 

const root = ReactDOM.createRoot(document.getElementById('root'));
root.render(

  <React.StrictMode>

    <App />

  </React.StrictMode>
);
 
// If you want to start measuring performance in your app, pass a function
// to log results (for example: reportWebVitals(console.log))
// or send to an analytics endpoint. Learn more: https://bit.ly/CRA-vitals
reportWebVitals();