Difference between: 1)STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'static') 2) STATICFILES_DIRS = [ os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static"), ]?

Question

Django

Is there a difference between
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'static')
and

STATICFILES_DIRS = [
    os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static"),
]

?
If there is, what is it?

Answer 1

There is.
STATIC_ROOT - where djanga will put files on the collectstatic command and from where your reverse proxy (nginx / Caddy) will distribute statics. During development, this folder must be empty
STATICFILES_DIRS - folders where your static files are stored, from where they will then be copied to STATIC_ROOT during assembly