Add django command

Author: ryanhiebert

draft/0000-name-main-command-django.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,212 @@
+========================================
+DEP XXXX: Name the main command `django`
+========================================
+
+:DEP: XXXX
+:Author: Ryan Hiebert
+:Implementation Team: Ryan Hiebert
+:Shepherd: Tom Carrick
+:Status: Draft
+:Type: Feature
+:Created: 2025-01-07
+
+.. contents:: Table of Contents
+   :depth: 3
+   :local:
+
+
+Abstract
+========
+
+Motivated by a desire to remove confusing papercuts in Django
+and to follow common convention in the Python ecosystem,
+this DEP proposes to add a new ``django`` command equivalent to
+the existing ``django-admin`` command,
+and to update the documentation to prefer this new spelling.
+
+Specification
+=============
+
+The ``django`` command will be added as the preferred spelling
+for the existing ``django-admin`` command.
+
+.. code-block:: diff
+
+   --- a/pyproject.toml
+   +++ b/pyproject.toml
+   @@ -45,2 +45,3 @@
+    [project.scripts]
+   +django = "django.core.management:execute_from_command_line"
+    django-admin = "django.core.management:execute_from_command_line"
+
+Official documentation will be updated
+to reference this new ``django`` command
+everywhere that ``django-admin`` is currently referenced
+by searching the repository for ``django-admin``
+and auditing each instance to determine
+if it is a reference to the command and should be updated.
+The implementor will coordinate with the translation team
+to assist in making all necessary translation updates.
+
+Backwards Compatibility
+=======================
+
+The existing ``django-admin`` command will remain indefinitely
+as an alias of the ``django`` command.
+There are no plans to deprecate or remove the ``django-admin`` alias.
+
+Motivation
+==========
+
+Django is how many people first learn Python,
+so the choices that Django makes have an outsized impact
+on the intuition they have of how things work in Python.
+This makes it more important that Django
+follow Python's simple and clean style,
+and match the conventions of the broader ecosystem.
+
+Naming the main command ``django``
+can reduce new developer confusion and make it easier to remember
+by following the most typical patterns in both the Python ecosystem
+and in the broader software development world.
+Some Python examples include ``pip``, ``pytest``, and ``black``,
+and some broader examples include ``ember``, ``rails``, and ``vite``.
+
+The broad acceptance of this pattern has been reinforced
+by tools like ``uv tool run`` (aka ``uvx``) and ``pipx``,
+where commands that are the same as the package name
+get special privileges and a simpler syntax.
+For example ``uvx pytest`` automatically downloads and runs
+the ``pytest`` command from the ``pytest`` package.
+
+This pattern has been further reinforced
+by the common pattern of recommending to use, for example,
+``python -m pip`` to ensure that
+you're using the version of the module
+that is associated with your intended Python interpreter.
+The correspondance between the command name and the package name
+allows for a more intuitive mapping to the alternative style.
+
+The ``django`` command is shorter,
+and while tab completion is a common way to avoid typing long commmands
+not all developers use it,
+especially new developers who are still learning
+how the command line works.
+Mentors in Django Girls workshops have observed that
+people have trouble remembering that they can use tab completion.
+
+Some commenters have described this alternative as
+intuitive, fun, aesthetic, and modern.
+These subjective benefits
+are not sufficient motivation to make the change alone,
+and are likely to be largely based on the intuitions built
+from the motivations above,
+but they reinforce values that we desire in the project.
+
+Drawbacks
+=========
+
+All changes have some drawbacks, this is no exception.
+It is important to consider them,
+and to make sure that they are mitigated
+or are outweighed by the benefits,
+compared with the implied work of
+reviewing and assuring the quality of the change,
+which will fall to the fellows and community reviewers.
+
+Broad community effects
+-----------------------
+
+There are many existing tutorials and blog posts
+that reference the existing ``django-admin`` commmand,
+and authors may reasonably think it wisest to update them.
+This is work that will be done by the community,
+so we should be cautious with adding this burden.
+
+Because the existing command will remain,
+the benefits of having the command follow common conventions
+and build the right mental model for new developers outweighs the cost.
+
+More than one way to do it
+--------------------------
+
+Having multiple ways to spell the same thing can be confusing
+by making it difficult for users to know which is the correct way,
+and worry what differences there are between them.
+This concern is especially relevant because of the volume
+of external resources that reference the existing command name.
+
+This drawback is partially mitigated by clear documentation
+that the two commands are equivalent,
+and the benefits of following common convention again outweight the cost.
+
+Ambiguity
+---------
+
+The ``django`` command can be seen as a terminology conflict
+with the name of the Python package or the name of the project itself.
+However, Django is an exception to what most tools with a CLI do,
+so the current situation is already confusing to new users.
+It is worth the trade some confusion over this ambiguity
+for the clarity gained by consistency with other tools.
+Over time, usage of the current command will be less common,
+and the confusion will be less likely to surface.
+
+Alternatives
+============
+
+Beside the status quo, some other possibilities compete with this proposal.
+
+Only add an alias
+-----------------
+
+This could be a less invasive change by only adding the new command name,
+and not modifying the documentation.
+This would avoid the vast majority of the work involved in this change.
+However, some common challenges are caused
+by the command name being different from the package name,
+and won't be resolved until the documentation is updated as well.
+For example, users have tried to run
+``python -m django-admin`` instead of ``python -m django``,
+to mirror the pattern followed by
+other notable Python packages with commands.
+
+.. code-block:: bash
+
+   python -m django-admin startproject myproject
+
+``django-admin`` is not a valid Python module name,
+so this command cannot be run in this way.
+
+Reserve the name
+----------------
+
+``django-admin`` is only commonly used directly to create new projects,
+with ``django-admin startproject``,
+so it is reasonable to wonder whether matching ``django-admin``
+is the optimal behavior for this name.
+
+One other interesting candidate for the ``django`` command has been suggested,
+which is to use it as a replacement for the generated ``manage.py`` script.
+Because the ``manage.py`` script is effectively
+a wrapper around the same code as ``django-admin``,
+``manage.py`` is a strict superset of ``django-admin``.
+This means that the ``django`` command could be expanded
+to be a replacement for ``manage.py`` in the future.
+
+Reference Implementation
+========================
+
+Two separate proof of concept implementations were written
+by `Jeff Triplett`_ and `Ryan Hiebert`_.
+
+.. _Jeff Triplett: https://github.com/jefftriplett/django-cli-no-admin
+.. _Ryan Hiebert: https://github.com/ryanhiebert/django-cmd
+
+Copyright
+=========
+
+This document has been placed in the public domain per the Creative Commons
+CC0 1.0 Universal license (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed).
+
+(All DEPs must include this exact copyright statement.)