Refactor Django settings for improved clarity

Author: Deadcoder001

settings.py

@@ -1,57 +1,46 @@
-"""
-Django settings for ons_trading project.
-
-Generated by 'django-admin startproject' using Django 5.2.1.
-
-For more information on this file, see
-https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/topics/settings/
-
-For the full list of settings and their values, see
-https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/ref/settings/
-"""
-
 import os
 from pathlib import Path
-import dj_database_url  # Import dj_database_url
+import dj_database_url
 
-# Build paths inside the project like this: BASE_DIR / 'subdir'.
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# BASE DIRECTORY
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
 
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# SECURITY SETTINGS
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# Get the SECRET_KEY from Render's environment variable
+SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY', 'django-insecure-default-key')
 
-# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
-# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/howto/deployment/checklist/
-
-# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
-# Get the SECRET_KEY from a Render environment variable
-SECRET_KEY = os.environ.get('SECRET_KEY', 'django-insecure-n&a6vut67vp5ysh09jvsts&6%m5e*b_#hr82iuw(1dk^d18yok')
-
-# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
-# Get DEBUG status from a Render environment variable (defaults to False)
+# Get DEBUG status from Render (defaults to False in production)
 DEBUG = os.environ.get('DEBUG', 'False') == 'True'
 
-# Get the ALLOWED_HOSTS from Render's environment variable
+# ALLOWED_HOSTS: Add Render's external hostname automatically
 ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
 RENDER_EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME = os.environ.get('RENDER_EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME')
 if RENDER_EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME:
     ALLOWED_HOSTS.append(RENDER_EXTERNAL_HOSTNAME)
 
-
-# Application definition
-
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# INSTALLED APPS
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 INSTALLED_APPS = [
     "django.contrib.admin",
     "django.contrib.auth",
     "django.contrib.contenttypes",
     "django.contrib.sessions",
     "django.contrib.messages",
     "django.contrib.staticfiles",
-    'onsapp',
+    'onsapp',  # Your custom app
 ]
 
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# MIDDLEWARE
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 MIDDLEWARE = [
     "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
-    # Add WhiteNoise middleware right after SecurityMiddleware
-    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
+    "whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware",  # Required for Render
     "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
     "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware",
@@ -60,8 +49,14 @@
     "django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware",
 ]
 
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# URL CONFIGURATION
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 ROOT_URLCONF = "ons_trading.urls"
 
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# TEMPLATES
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 TEMPLATES = [
     {
         "BACKEND": "django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates",
@@ -78,25 +73,25 @@
     },
 ]
 
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# WSGI APPLICATION
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 WSGI_APPLICATION = "ons_trading.wsgi.application"
 
-
-# Database
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/ref/settings/#databases
-
-# This setup uses dj_database_url to read the DATABASE_URL env var from Render
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# DATABASE CONFIGURATION
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# Uses SQLite locally, but switches to PostgreSQL on Render automatically
 DATABASES = {
     'default': dj_database_url.config(
-        # Use SQLite locally if DATABASE_URL is not set
         default=f'sqlite:///{BASE_DIR / "db.sqlite3"}',
         conn_max_age=600,
     )
 }
 
-
-# Password validation
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/ref/settings/#auth-password-validators
-
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# PASSWORD VALIDATION
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
     {
         "NAME": "django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator",
@@ -112,32 +107,26 @@
     },
 ]
 
-
-# Internationalization
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/topics/i18n/
-
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# INTERNATIONALIZATION
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 LANGUAGE_CODE = "en-us"
-
 TIME_ZONE = 'Asia/Kolkata'
-
-USE_I1N = True
-
+USE_I18N = True
 USE_TZ = True
 
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# STATIC FILES (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+STATIC_URL = "/static/"
 
-# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/howto/static-files/
-
-STATIC_URL = "static/"
-
-# This is the directory where collectstatic will gather all static files.
+# This is crucial for Render deployment (fixes ImproperlyConfigured error)
 STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'staticfiles'
 
-# Enable WhiteNoise to serve static files efficiently.
+# Enable WhiteNoise compression and caching
 STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'
 
-
-# Default primary key field type
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.2/ref/settings/#default-auto-field
-
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
+# DEFAULT AUTO FIELD
+# -------------------------------------------------------------
 DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD = "django.db.models.BigAutoField"