[Chicago] Dec talk: REST-ful Web apps with Django Piston

[Matt Dorn]

Carl Karsten wrote:
> Can I get a slightly larger (2 or 3 lines) description?
> 
> 30 min talk, 15 min Q&A enough?

I was originally going to try to give this talk at the upcoming PyCon -- 
I won't be doing it, since there was a very similar proposal that got 
chosen instead.  But below is part of the proposal I sent.  I can make 
it fit the 30 min time frame.

--

Summary:
A common complaint about Django, the leading Python web application 
framework, is that it doesn't make writing REST APIs easy enough.  In 
fact the paradigm for a typical Django application involves views which 
map to HTML page templates.  With end users increasingly expecting rich 
interfaces with the responsiveness of a desktop application, this 
paradigm is being superseded.   Fortunately a third-party Django 
application called Piston fills the gap.  Django/Piston can be combined 
with the Ext JS JavaScript framework and widget set to create 
attractive, responsive Web applications, and this talk will show you how.

Outline:
* REST overview
* Ajax overview
* Overview of REST options for Django
* Why Piston over other options
* Creating a REST interface to your Django models
* Writing an Ext JS application that consumes your Django app's RESTful API