What is the difference between postgres and postgresql_psycopg2 as a database engine for django?

Question

I have worked with python for a while, but never django. I am taking over a project that a different employee made before leaving our company. I am wondering if there is a difference between the option postgresql and postgresql_psycopg2 as a database driver for django.

In some articles and the docs about how to set up a django project I have seen just postgresql and in others I have seen the postgresql_psycopg2. I couldn’t find anything in the docs (here or here) that mentioned psycopg2, so is this just the old way of writing the option?

Is one just an alias for the other or are they actually different enignes? I also couldn’t find any other SO questions on this.

DATABASES = {
'default': {
    'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',# here I also saw postgres_psycopg2
    'NAME': 'premqcsite',
    'USER': 'django_user',
    'PASSWORD': 'Encepta_123',
    'HOST': 'localhost',
    'PORT': '5432',
}}

Asked By: Albert Rothman

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Answer 1

It’s the same. django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2 used in django <1.8 and it was renamed in django 1.9 to django.db.backends.postgresql.
From docs:

Changed in Django 1.9:

The django.db.backends.postgresql backend is named
django.db.backends.postgresql_psycopg2 in older releases. For
backwards compatibility, the old name still works in newer versions.

Answered By: Dima Kudosh

What is the difference between postgres and postgresql_psycopg2 as a database engine for django?

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