Does get_or_create() have to save right away? (Django)

When working with Django models, you might come across the get_or_create() method. This method is commonly used to retrieve an object from the database if it exists, or create it if it does not. But does get_or_create() have to save the object right away?

The answer is no, get_or_create() does not have to save the object immediately. When you call get_or_create(), Django first tries to retrieve the object from the database. If the object does not exist, it creates a new instance of the model class but does not save it to the database right away.

After creating the object, get_or_create() returns a tuple containing the object and a boolean value indicating whether the object was created or not. You can then decide whether to save the object to the database by calling the save() method on the object.

Here is an example of using get_or_create() without saving the object immediately:

        
            from myapp.models import MyModel

            obj, created = MyModel.objects.get_or_create(name='example')

            if created:
                # do something with the new object
                obj.save()
        
    

By calling save() on the object only if it was created, you have more control over when the object is saved to the database. This can be useful if you need to perform additional operations on the object before saving it, or if you want to save multiple objects at once.

In conclusion, get_or_create() does not have to save the object right away in Django. You can choose when to save the object by calling the save() method on the object returned by get_or_create().