DRF Fundamentals
Master Django REST Framework basics — serializers, views, routers, and building your first API endpoints.
55 min•By Priygop Team•Last updated: Feb 2026
DRF Core Concepts
- Installation: pip install djangorestframework, add 'rest_framework' to INSTALLED_APPS. Configure DEFAULT_AUTHENTICATION_CLASSES, DEFAULT_PERMISSION_CLASSES in settings.py
- Serializers: class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer) — converts model instances to JSON and validates incoming data. Meta class specifies model and fields. nested serializers for relationships
- Function-Based Views: @api_view(['GET', 'POST']) — simple views with request/response handling. Response renders to JSON automatically. request.data for parsed body (replaces request.POST)
- Class-Based Views: APIView (manual), GenericAPIView + mixins (semi-automatic), ViewSet (fully automatic). Each level adds more automation. Start with APIView to understand the basics
- URL Routing: router = DefaultRouter(); router.register('users', UserViewSet) — automatically generates URL patterns for all CRUD operations. Browsable API at each endpoint for debugging
- Status Codes: from rest_framework import status — status.HTTP_201_CREATED, status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST. Always return appropriate status codes with Response objects