🧩 Using Django REST Framework (DRF) for Building APIs
💡 1. What Is Django REST Framework?
Django REST Framework (DRF) is a high-level library built on Django that simplifies creating RESTful APIs.
It provides ready-to-use components for:
Serialization (converting data to and from JSON)
Authentication & Permissions
Routing and URL handling
Browsable API interface (interactive API web UI)
🧠 DRF turns Django into a full-featured API backend without reinventing the wheel.
⚙️ 2. Why Use DRF?
Feature Benefit
Serialization Easily convert Django models to JSON and back
Browsable API Auto-generated, user-friendly interface for testing
Authentication Supports Token, Session, OAuth2, JWT, etc.
Permissions Control access at user or object level
Pagination, filtering, versioning Built-in tools for scalability
Integration with Django ORM Work seamlessly with your models
🔐 DRF helps developers focus on logic — not boilerplate code.
🧰 3. Setting Up a Django REST Framework Project
Step 1: Install Dependencies
pip install django djangorestframework
Step 2: Create a New Django Project
django-admin startproject myapi
cd myapi
python manage.py startapp users
Step 3: Add to settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'rest_framework', # Add DRF
'users', # Our app
]
🧱 4. Creating a Simple API
Let’s build a User API as an example.
models.py (in users/)
from django.db import models
class User(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
date_joined = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
def __str__(self):
return self.name
Run migrations:
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate
📦 5. Serializers — Converting Models to JSON
serializers.py (in users/)
from rest_framework import serializers
from .models import User
class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = User
fields = '__all__'
🧠 Serializers define how model instances are transformed into JSON and validated when creating/updating.
🚀 6. Views — The Logic Layer
DRF offers several view types:
APIView — manually handle requests (fine-grained control)
Generic Views — prebuilt views for common CRUD operations
ViewSets — automatic route handling with routers
Let’s use a ViewSet for simplicity.
views.py
from rest_framework import viewsets
from .models import User
from .serializers import UserSerializer
class UserViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
queryset = User.objects.all()
serializer_class = UserSerializer
🌐 7. URLs and Routing
urls.py (in users/)
from django.urls import path, include
from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter
from .views import UserViewSet
router = DefaultRouter()
router.register(r'users', UserViewSet)
urlpatterns = [
path('', include(router.urls)),
]
Add to the project’s myapi/urls.py
from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include
urlpatterns = [
path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
path('api/', include('users.urls')),
]
🧭 8. Run the API Server
python manage.py runserver
Visit:
http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users/
— Browsable API view
http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/users/1/
— Retrieve a specific user
You can use the DRF web interface to GET, POST, PUT, or DELETE data interactively!
🔐 9. Adding Authentication and Permissions
In settings.py
REST_FRAMEWORK = {
'DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES': [
'rest_framework.authentication.SessionAuthentication',
'rest_framework.authentication.TokenAuthentication',
],
'DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES': [
'rest_framework.permissions.IsAuthenticated',
]
}
To enable Token Authentication:
pip install djangorestframework-simplejwt
Then configure JWT in settings.py and your routes. DRF will then require valid tokens for accessing endpoints.
🧩 10. Advanced DRF Features
Feature Description
Filtering & Searching Use django-filter to filter querysets
Pagination Add pagination globally or per view
Throttling Rate-limit API requests
Versioning Support multiple API versions easily
Documentation Auto-generate API docs using DRF’s schema or Swagger (drf-yasg)
Example for filtering:
from rest_framework import filters
class UserViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
queryset = User.objects.all()
serializer_class = UserSerializer
filter_backends = [filters.SearchFilter]
search_fields = ['name', 'email']
Now you can search like:
/api/users/?search=Alice
⚡ 11. Benefits of Using DRF
Minimal boilerplate compared to raw Django views.
Built-in security and permission management.
Scales easily for large applications.
Great developer experience with the browsable API.
Easy integration with frontend frameworks (React, Vue, etc.).
🧱 DRF is the bridge between powerful Django models and modern RESTful APIs.
🧭 12. Example Folder Structure
myapi/
│
├── myapi/
│ ├── settings.py
│ ├── urls.py
│
├── users/
│ ├── models.py
│ ├── views.py
│ ├── serializers.py
│ ├── urls.py
│
└── manage.py
🧩 13. Conclusion
Django REST Framework provides a complete, elegant, and production-ready toolkit for building RESTful APIs in Python.
It abstracts the repetitive work while maintaining Django’s strengths: scalability, security, and simplicity.
🚀 With DRF, you can go from a Django model to a fully functional, documented REST API in minutes.
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