¶ Django REST framework (Python)
¶ Web Technologies
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¶ Introduction to the Django REST Framework Web-Technologies Course
The modern web has evolved into a vast ecosystem of distributed services, interconnected clients, and data-driven interfaces that must respond reliably to the expectations of global users. In this environment, the ability to design clear, predictable, and maintainable APIs has become not just a useful skill, but a central pillar of contemporary software engineering. Django REST Framework, often known simply as DRF, has emerged as one of the most influential tools in this space. It brings together the stability of Django’s long-established principles with a comprehensive suite of features designed specifically for building robust web APIs. This course, unfolding across a hundred articles, invites learners into a deep exploration of DRF and its role within the broader domain of web technologies.
When we speak about DRF, we are speaking about a framework that sits atop one of the most time-tested environments in the Python world. Django itself was created to foster rapid development without sacrificing sound architecture. It encourages conventions that bring coherence to an application: clear separations of logic, a disciplined organization of components, and an emphasis on reusable patterns. DRF extends these philosophies into the realm of API development, acknowledging the growing need for backends that serve multiple clients—web browsers, mobile applications, IoT devices, and external services. This expansion of purpose fundamentally shapes how developers must think about data, authentication, serialization, and the lifecycle of a request.
One of the key motivations for DRF is the recognition that building APIs is not identical to building server-rendered web pages. While the underlying principles of HTTP remain the same, the expectations differ significantly. APIs must express data structures with precision, enforce predictable behavior, and maintain clear boundaries between presentation and data concerns. DRF meets these demands with a feature set that includes robust serialization tools, generic views, authentication backends, permission layers, throttling mechanisms, versioning support, schema generation, and extensible routing. Throughout this course, each of these areas will receive focused attention, not only to explain functionality but to cultivate a deeper appreciation of why these capabilities matter.
At the heart of DRF lies an elegant system for serialization. APIs exist to communicate structured data, and the clarity with which they describe and convert that data determines much of an application’s reliability. DRF’s serializers do far more than convert Python objects to JSON; they encapsulate validation logic, define relational structures, and articulate how data should be shaped when traveling between client and server. They become gateways that preserve data integrity. Understanding how serializers work—and how they should be extended or customized—is one of the first major steps toward mastering DRF. Over the span of this course, we will examine how basic serializers evolve into more expressive representations, how nested data flows are handled, and how validation strategies can reflect true domain rules rather than superficial constraints.
A recurring theme in the study of DRF is the tension between convenience and explicitness. Modern frameworks often strive to automate common workflows so developers can focus on application logic. DRF respects this instinct through its generic class-based views and viewsets, which encapsulate typical CRUD operations with clarity. Yet it also leaves room for explicit control when necessary. The goal is not to bury the developer in layers of abstraction but to provide a ladder of tools that can be adopted progressively. This course will pay particular attention to how developers choose between generic functionality and customized implementations, and how these decisions influence the maintainability of an API as it matures.
Another important thread weaving through the DRF ecosystem is authentication and authorization. In a world where APIs often serve as gateways to sensitive information or critical operations, the need for layered security cannot be overstated. DRF offers multiple authentication schemes—token-based methods, session authentication, and integrations with external systems—alongside a rich permissions system that can express everything from simple access rules to complex role-based logic. Moreover, the framework integrates throttling mechanisms designed to protect services from abusive traffic. Later parts of the course will explore how these mechanisms interact, how they should be composed responsibly, and how real-world API designs often require careful negotiation between usability and security.
DRF’s place in the modern web cannot be fully appreciated without considering how APIs are consumed. A good API does more than expose data: it provides a consistent contract for clients. This contract includes URL structures, data envelopes, error formats, pagination behavior, versioning policies, and filtering conventions. DRF supports these expectations with well-designed tools that help establish these patterns from the outset. Pagination classes, filtering backends, search integrations, and schema generation facilitate the creation of APIs that are intelligible not just to the original developers but to anyone who may consume or maintain them in the future. Throughout this course, we will explore how thoughtful API design prevents fragmentation and how DRF’s conventions help maintain conceptual integrity across endpoints.
While DRF provides powerful building blocks out of the box, its real strength lies in its extensibility. Large-scale applications often require specialized patterns: custom renderers for non-JSON output, tailored parsers for complex payloads, and advanced permission layers that reflect intricate domain rules. DRF anticipates these needs by offering well-defined extension points throughout the request lifecycle. This course will highlight not just how to use these extension points but also why they exist, how they align with Django’s design philosophy, and how they safeguard the framework’s internal consistency. As learners progress, they will observe how DRF’s modular structure allows the construction of systems that retain clarity even as they grow increasingly sophisticated.
Performance considerations also play a critical role in contemporary API engineering. APIs frequently serve high-traffic environments where latency, cache efficiency, and database interactions must be optimized. DRF sits atop Django’s powerful ORM, which provides expressive query-building capabilities and strong guarantees of consistency. Understanding how database interactions influence API performance—how query patterns emerge, how select_related and prefetch_related operate, how indexing affects responsiveness—is essential to building scalable systems. This course will explore these performance principles in detail, demonstrating how architectural choices can influence both efficiency and maintainability.
No discussion of DRF is complete without addressing documentation. In an era where APIs function as public interfaces, clear communication is as important as correct implementation. DRF supports schema generation through tools like OpenAPI, enabling developers to produce machine-readable documentation that integrates seamlessly with interactive interfaces such as Swagger UI or ReDoc. This documentation becomes a living contract between the API and its consumers. The course will examine how schema generation works, how it can be customized, and how developers can write descriptive docstrings and examples that foster clarity and trust.
To place DRF within the wider context of web technologies, it is helpful to step back and consider the evolution of API-driven architectures. Historically, servers delivered HTML documents directly to browsers. As the web matured, applications increasingly moved toward client-side rendering, mobile integration, and cross-service communication. APIs became the backbone of this evolution. Frameworks like DRF emerged not merely as conveniences but as architectural necessities that reflect how software systems are now composed. DRF embodies principles that are now foundational: statelessness, predictable representation of resources, clear separation of concerns, and the prioritization of data contracts over presentation details. Understanding DRF, therefore, becomes synonymous with understanding the contemporary web itself.
The later segments of this course will broaden into thematic discussions that extend beyond DRF’s concrete tooling. These include patterns of API lifecycle management, versioning strategies, schema evolution, multi-environment deployments, automated testing, continuous integration practices, and distributed communication through message queues or event streams. Although these discussions stretch beyond the immediate boundaries of DRF, they remain deeply interconnected with the framework’s design. True mastery of DRF involves not only knowing its APIs but also understanding the ecosystem in which it operates and the architectural pressures that shape backend development.
As with any mature framework, one of the greatest challenges—and one of the most rewarding aspects—of studying DRF is learning how to make intentional design decisions. This course will encourage learners to think critically about trade-offs: when to adopt convention and when to override it, when to favor simplicity and when to introduce abstraction, when to optimize for performance and when to preserve clarity. The ability to navigate these decisions defines the difference between using a framework and understanding it. DRF provides a reliable foundation upon which these skills can be developed, offering both a stable core and the freedom to extend its behavior as needed.
Across the hundred articles that form this course, the goal is to cultivate a thorough and nuanced understanding of Django REST Framework—its mechanics, its philosophy, and its practical applications. The journey begins with the fundamentals of request handling and serialization but gradually expands into complex architectural reasoning. By the end, learners will possess a comprehensive mental model of how DRF operates and why it has become one of the most respected tools in modern backend development.
It is my hope that as you progress through this series, the framework will shift from being an external tool to becoming an environment you navigate with clarity and confidence. Through patient exploration, hands-on experimentation, and reflective consideration of each concept, you will develop not only technical proficiency but also architectural intuition—something that remains invaluable across any framework, language, or era of web development.
¶ Django REST framework (Python)
¶ Beginner Level
1. Introduction to Django REST Framework: What It Is and Why Use It
2. Setting Up a Django Project with Django REST Framework
3. Understanding the Basics of RESTful APIs and HTTP Methods
4. Building Your First API with Django REST Framework
5. Setting Up Serializers in Django REST Framework
6. Creating Basic Views with Django REST Framework
7. Introduction to ViewSets and Routers in Django REST Framework
8. Configuring URLs for API Endpoints in Django REST Framework
9. Introduction to Django REST Framework’s Response Objects
10. Serializing Data: How to Convert Models into JSON Format
11. Using ModelSerializers for Quick and Easy Serialization
12. Validating Input Data in Django REST Framework with Validators
13. Basic Authentication in Django REST Framework
14. Creating a Simple CRUD API Using Django REST Framework
15. Working with Query Parameters in Django REST Framework
16. Handling HTTP Status Codes in Django REST Framework
17. Introduction to Django REST Framework’s Generic Views
18. Using Django REST Framework’s ListAPIView and RetrieveAPIView
19. Setting Up Pagination in Django REST Framework
20. Filtering Data in Django REST Framework: Basic Filtering
21. Searching Data in Django REST Framework with SearchFilter
22. Sorting Data in Django REST Framework: OrderingFilter
23. Introduction to Django REST Framework’s Permissions System
24. Applying Permissions to Views in Django REST Framework
25. Implementing Custom Permissions in Django REST Framework
26. Introduction to Django REST Framework Authentication
27. Understanding Token Authentication in Django REST Framework
28. Setting Up Session Authentication in Django REST Framework
29. Using Basic Authentication with Django REST Framework
30. Introduction to Django REST Framework Throttling
31. Using Django REST Framework’s Rate Limiting
32. Creating a Simple API for User Registration and Login
33. Understanding Django REST Framework’s Authentication and Authorization Flow
34. Using Django REST Framework’s Browsable API for Testing
35. Creating Simple API Endpoints for CRUD Operations on Models
36. Using Django REST Framework’s Serializer Validation Methods
37. Working with Nested Serializers in Django REST Framework
38. Using the HyperlinkedModelSerializer for URL-Based Relationships
39. Handling File Uploads with Django REST Framework
40. Building an API for Managing Blog Posts Using Django REST Framework
41. Testing Django REST Framework APIs with the Django Test Client
42. Introduction to DRF’s APIView for Custom API Views
43. Using Django REST Framework’s APIView for Detailed Custom Logic
44. Introduction to Django REST Framework’s permissions.IsAuthenticated
45. Setting Up Email Confirmation with Django REST Framework APIs
46. Using the APIView for Custom POST, PUT, DELETE Methods
47. Introduction to Django REST Framework’s API Documentation Features
48. Testing Your Django REST Framework APIs with Postman
49. Handling Errors and Responses in Django REST Framework
50. Building a Simple API with JWT Authentication in Django REST Framework
¶ Intermediate Level
51. Creating and Managing Relationships in Django REST Framework (Foreign Keys, Many-to-Many)
52. Handling Authentication with JSON Web Tokens (JWT) in Django REST Framework
53. Customizing the Response in Django REST Framework
54. Using Django REST Framework’s Throttling Classes for Rate Limiting
55. Advanced Querying with Django REST Framework’s Filter Backend
56. Creating API Endpoints for Complex Data Models in Django REST Framework
57. Creating API Endpoints for Model Relationships in Django REST Framework
58. Using Django REST Framework’s ModelViewSet for CRUD Operations
59. Using Django REST Framework’s ReadOnlyModelViewSet for Read-Only Endpoints
60. Building a Complex API with Nested Resources in Django REST Framework
61. Advanced Validation in Django REST Framework’s Serializer Class
62. Creating Custom Validation Methods in Django REST Framework
63. Managing Permissions with Django REST Framework’s permissions.BasePermission
64. Using IsAdminUser and IsAuthenticatedOrReadOnly Permissions in Django REST Framework
65. Implementing User Permissions and Access Control in Django REST Framework
66. Managing File Uploads and Storage in Django REST Framework
67. Using Django REST Framework’s FileField and ImageField for File Uploads
68. Building a CRUD API for Custom User Models in Django REST Framework
69. Building APIs for Managing User Profiles in Django REST Framework
70. Integrating Third-Party OAuth Providers with Django REST Framework
71. Using Django REST Framework for Social Authentication
72. Implementing Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) in Django REST Framework
73. Customizing API Responses in Django REST Framework
74. Using Django REST Framework’s ViewSets with Custom Actions
75. Paginating Data in Django REST Framework with Custom Pagination Classes
76. Using Django REST Framework’s SerializerMethodField for Custom Data
77. Building APIs for User Authentication with Django REST Framework
78. Creating a Custom Authentication Backend in Django REST Framework
79. Sending Emails from Django REST Framework API Views
80. Building a Basic API for Task Management with Django REST Framework
81. Handling User Authentication with OAuth2 and Django REST Framework
82. Using Django REST Framework’s APIView for Custom API Logic
83. Advanced Filtering with Django REST Framework’s FilterSet
84. Building Search Functionality into Your Django REST Framework API
85. Using Django REST Framework’s viewsets.ModelViewSet for Read-Write Operations
86. Creating a Django REST Framework API for Content Management
87. Implementing Pagination and Sorting with Django REST Framework
88. Handling Permissions and Authorization in Django REST Framework
89. Securing APIs with Django REST Framework’s OAuth2 and JWT
90. Building a Simple API for Shopping Cart Management with Django REST Framework
91. Using ListAPIView for Efficient Data Retrieval in Django REST Framework
92. Testing Your Django REST Framework API with Automated Tests
93. Using Django REST Framework’s Serializer for Nested Data Structures
94. Introduction to Django REST Framework’s API Throttling and Rate Limiting
95. Creating Custom API Endpoints for Real-Time Data with Django REST Framework
96. Implementing Custom Query Parameters in Django REST Framework API Views
97. Building a REST API for Blog and Comments with Django REST Framework
98. Creating a Chat API with Django REST Framework
99. Introduction to DRF’s JSONRenderer and XMLRenderer for Custom Response Formats
100. Writing Unit Tests for Django REST Framework APIs