How to Build a REST API with Django and Django REST Framework

Creating a REST API with Django and Django REST Framework (DRF) is straightforward and powerful. In this tutorial, we’ll guide you step-by-step through the process of building your first REST API.

1. Setting Up the Environment

Install Django and DRF

Create a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate

Install Django and DRF:

   pip install django djangorestframework

2. Create a Django Project and App

Create a Project

django-admin startproject myproject
cd myproject

Create an App

python manage.py startapp myapp

Add myapp and rest_framework to the INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'rest_framework',
    'myapp',
]

3. Create a Model

In myapp/models.py:

from django.db import models

class Book(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    author = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    published_date = models.DateField()
    isbn = models.CharField(max_length=13)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.title

Run migrations to apply the model:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

4. Create a Serializer

In myapp/serializers.py:

from rest_framework import serializers
from .models import Book

class BookSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Book
        fields = '__all__'

5. Create a View

In myapp/views.py:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from .models import Book
from .serializers import BookSerializer

class BookViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Book.objects.all()
    serializer_class = BookSerializer

6. Create a Router

In myapp/urls.py:

from django.urls import path, include
from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter
from .views import BookViewSet

router = DefaultRouter()
router.register(r'books', BookViewSet)

urlpatterns = [
    path('', include(router.urls)),
]

Include the app’s urls.py in the project’s urls.py:

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('api/', include('myapp.urls')),
]

7. Test the API

Run the server:

python manage.py runserver

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/api/books/ to interact with your API:

GET: Retrieve all books.
POST: Add a new book.
PUT/PATCH: Update an existing book.
DELETE: Delete a book.

8. Add Authentication (Optional)

You can secure your API by adding token-based authentication.

Install DRF’s token authentication:

   pip install djangorestframework-simplejwt

Update settings.py:

   REST_FRAMEWORK = {
       'DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES': (
           'rest_framework_simplejwt.authentication.JWTAuthentication',
       ),
   }

Add authentication endpoints in urls.py:

   from rest_framework_simplejwt.views import (
       TokenObtainPairView,
       TokenRefreshView,
   )

   urlpatterns += [
       path('api/token/', TokenObtainPairView.as_view(), name='token_obtain_pair'),
       path('api/token/refresh/', TokenRefreshView.as_view(), name='token_refresh'),
   ]

9. Explore the API

You can use tools like Postman, Insomnia, or the DRF Browsable API for testing and interacting with your API.

Congratulations! You now have a fully functional REST API built with Django and Django REST Framework. This setup is simple yet flexible enough for most applications. Happy coding!

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