Building REST APIs With Python Django: Step by Step

Building REST APIs with Python using Django is a powerful way to create scalable web applications. Django is a high-level web framework that encourages rapid development and clean, pragmatic design. In this article, we will guide you through the steps to build a REST API using Django and the Django REST framework.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Environment

Before you begin, you need to ensure that you have Python and Django installed on your machine. You can check your Python version by running:

python --version

If you don't have Django installed, you can install it using pip:

pip install django

Next, install the Django REST framework:

pip install djangorestframework

Step 2: Create a New Django Project

To create a new Django project, run the following command:

django-admin startproject myproject

Navigate into the project directory:

cd myproject

Step 3: Create a Django App

Inside your project directory, create a new app for your API:

python manage.py startapp myapi

Add your app to the project settings by editing settings.py and adding 'myapi', to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

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

Step 4: Create a Model

In your myapi/models.py file, define a model. For example, a simple model to represent a book could look like this:

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()
def __str__(self):
        return self.title

After creating your model, run the following commands to create and apply migrations:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

Step 5: Create a Serializer

Serializers allow complex data types like querysets and model instances to be converted to native Python data types. In your app directory, create a new file named serializers.py and define a serializer for your Book model:

from rest_framework import serializers
from .models import Book
class BookSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Book
        fields = '__all__'

Step 6: Build API Views

In your views.py file, you can create views to handle API requests. Use Django REST framework's class-based views:

from rest_framework import generics
from .models import Book
from .serializers import BookSerializer
class BookList(generics.ListCreateAPIView):
    queryset = Book.objects.all()
    serializer_class = BookSerializer
class BookDetail(generics.RetrieveUpdateDestroyAPIView):
    queryset = Book.objects.all()
    serializer_class = BookSerializer

Step 7: Configure URLs

Next, you need to set up URLs for your API. Create a new file named urls.py in your app directory and define the following:

from django.urls import path
from .views import BookList, BookDetail
urlpatterns = [
    path('books/', BookList.as_view(), name='book-list'),
    path('books//', BookDetail.as_view(), name='book-detail'),
]

Then, include your app's URLs in the main project urls.py:

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include
urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('api/', include('myapi.urls')),
]

Step 8: Test Your API

Now that your API is set up, you can run your Django development server:

python manage.py runserver

Building REST APIs With Python Django: Step by Step