Build an API With Django REST Framework | Full Tutorial | 2024

In this tutorial, we will learn how to build an API using Django REST Framework. Django REST Framework is a powerful and flexible toolkit for building Web APIs in Django. It provides a set of tools and libraries that allow you to easily create RESTful APIs for your Django projects.

Prerequisites

Before we begin, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

• Python installed on your system
• Django installed on your system
• Django REST Framework installed on your system

Step 1: Create a Django Project

First, create a new Django project by running the following command:

django-admin startproject myproject

Step 2: Create a Django App

Next, create a new Django app within your project by running the following command:

python manage.py startapp myapp

Step 3: Setup Django REST Framework

Install Django REST Framework by running the following command:

pip install djangorestframework

Next, add ‘rest_framework’ to your INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'rest_framework',
]

Step 4: Create a Model

Create a model in your app’s models.py file, for example:

from django.db import models

class MyModel(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
description = models.TextField()

Step 5: Create Serializers

Create serializers in your app’s serializers.py file to convert your model instances to JSON data:

from rest_framework import serializers
from .models import MyModel

class MyModelSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
class Meta:
model = MyModel
fields = '__all__'

Step 6: Create Views

Create views in your app’s views.py file to define how your API endpoints will be accessed:

from rest_framework import viewsets
from .models import MyModel
from .serializers import MyModelSerializer

class MyModelViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
serializer_class = MyModelSerializer

Step 7: Setup URLs

Finally, setup your app’s URLs in urls.py to map your views to specific endpoints:

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

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

That’s it! You have now successfully built an API using Django REST Framework. You can now test your API endpoints using tools like Postman or curl.