REST EASY 
WITH 
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
MARCEL CHASTAIN (@MARCELCHASTAIN) 
LA DJANGO - 2014-10-28
WHAT WE’LL COVER 
• What’s REST? Why/when would we use it? 
• REST challenges 
• Django solutions 
• Installing DRF 
• DRF Core Components (and Django counterparts) 
• Building our Demo API 
• Customizing 
• Resources
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
ABOUT 
REST
…BUT I’M NOT TIRED
BUT I’M NOT TIRED 
REST stands for Representational State Transfer 
All 4 CRUD operations 
Uses HTTP requests to: 
• Post data(Create, Update) 
• Read data 
• Delete
WHY REST? 
Better than SOAP 
XML is the stuff of nightmares 
Uses JSON for data structures 
Popular – most modern 3rd party web APIs use RESTful 
endpoints
COMMON USE-CASES 
Single-Page Applications 
Real-Time Services 
SaaS APIs 
Creating external APIs for existing sites 
Mobile Apps 
WebComponents, Polymer, modular site design 
Modern JS Site Frameworks (Angular, Ember, Backbone, etc)
SOUNDS SIMPLE 
ENOUGH!
ALL TOGETHER NOW:
ALL TOGETHER NOW: 
We should 
roll our own!
… OK JUST BE SURE 
TO INCLUDE 
• serialization/deserialization
… OK JUST BE SURE 
TO INCLUDE 
• serialization/deserialization 
• parsing
… OK JUST BE SURE 
TO INCLUDE 
• serialization/deserialization 
• parsing 
• model introspection
… OK JUST BE SURE 
TO INCLUDE 
• serialization/deserialization 
• parsing 
• model introspection 
• relationship traversal 
• pluggable authentication 
• permissions 
• url structure 
• proper HTTP methods 
• pagination 
• forms 
• error handling 
• request filters 
• consistency 
• maybe some generic views 
• request throttling 
• …and tests!
ALL TOGETHER NOW:
EXACTLY, WONDER WOMAN.
PROPER SOLUTIONS 
django-rest-framework 
• 900+ forks 
• 304 contributors 
• 3k stars 
• The greatest documentation 
I’ve seen in a library 
django-tastypie 
• 900+ forks 
• 112 contributors 
• 2.6k stars 
• Delicious-sounding name
…YOU’VE GOT 
OPTIONS
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
THE SETUP
INSTALLATION 
pip install djangorestframework 
pip install markdown # optional 
pip install django-filter # optional
INSTALLATION (2) 
Add to INSTALLED_APPS 
# settings.py 
INSTALLED_APPS = ( 
... 
‘rest_framework’, 
)
INSTALLATION (3) 
Include the login/logout views 
# urls.py
MODELS
MODELS
MODELS 
DJANGO MODELS
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
THE CORE 
COMPONENTS
IN TRADITIONAL 
DJANGO: 
1. Models/Querysets 
2. Class-Based Views/Mixins 
3. Generic Views 
4. URLs 
5. HTTP Requests 
6. Rendered Responses 
IN DRF: 
1. Serializers 
2. APIViews/Mixins 
3. ViewSets 
4. Routers 
5. HTTP Requests 
6. HTTP Responses
1. SERIALIZERS 
“Serializers allow complex data to be 
converted to native Python datatypes that 
can then be easily rendered in JSON, XML 
or other content types”
1.1 SERIALIZERS 
Declarative syntax, similar to Forms/ModelForms 
Automatically handle single Model instances or Querysets
1.2 SERIALIZERS 
# using it 
>>> note = Note.objects.first() 
>>> serializer = NoteSerializer(note) 
>>> serializer.data 
{u'id': 1, 
'body': u'First, do no harm.', 
'pub_date': datetime.datetime(2014, 10, 28, 11, 23, 30, tzinfo=<UTC>), 
'title': u'Hippocratic Oath', 
'user': { 
'id': 1, 
'username': u'demo', 
'email': u'demo@demo.com' 
} 
}
2. APIVIEWS 
Subclass of Django’s View class 
Simple - has .get() .post(), etc methods 
Some Differences: 
• Requests not normal HTTPRequest (more later) 
• Responses are not normal HTTPResponse (more later) 
• Auth, permissions, throttling done in advance
2.1 APIVIEWS
3. VIEWSETS 
Similar to Django’s Generic Views. 
“A type of Class-Based View that provides actions like 
.list() and .create() instead of .get() and .post()” 
Combine the logic for a set of related views into one class, 
for all the actions you’ll need to take.
3.1 VIEWSETS
3.2 MODELVIEWSETS
4. URL ROUTERS 
Automatic URL routing 
Simple, quick, consistent way of wiring your view logic to a 
set of URLs
4. URL ROUTERS 
Automatic URL routing 
Simple, quick, consistent way of wiring your view logic to a 
set of URLs
5. REQUESTS 
• In an APIView or ViewSet, ‘request’ is a DRF Request. 
• Incoming JSON data in request is processed just like 
Form data 
• Makes request data available as 
• request.DATA (vs .POST) 
• request.FILES 
• request.QUERY_PARAMS (vs .GET)
6. RESPONSES 
Uses content-negotiation to render final content 
(Hence why built-in API Console shows rich interface to us 
but would deliver plain JSON to an AJAX request)
IN TRADITIONAL 
DJANGO: 
1. Models/Querysets 
2. Class-Based Views/Mixins 
3. Generic Views 
4. URLs 
5. HTTPRequest 
6. HTTPResponse 
IN DRF: 
1. Serializers 
2. APIViews/Mixins 
3. ViewSets 
4. URL Routers 
5. DRF ‘Request’ 
6. DRF ‘Response’ 
REVIEW:
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
THE DEMO
INSTALLATION (REPO) 
git clone https://github.com/marcelchastain/drf-demo.git
API RUNNING!
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
CUSTOMIZING
CUSTOMIZING VIEWS 
• queryset 
• serializer_class 
• filter_class 
• authentication_classes (rest_framework.authentication) 
• permission_classes (rest_framework.permissions) 
• parser_classes (rest_framework.parsers) 
• renderer_classes (rest_framework.renderers) 
• throttle_classes (rest_framework.throttling) 
• paginate_by, max_paginate_by 
(Defaults for most can be set in settings.py)
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
RESOURCES
RESOURCES 
Docs: http://www.django-rest-framework.org 
Tutorial: http://www.django-rest-framework.org/#tutorial 
IRC: #restframework on irc.freenode.net 
StackOverflow: ‘django-rest-framework’ tag 
Author: Tom Christie (@_tomchristie) 
Commercial Support: “DAB Apps” http://dabapps.com
REST EASY 
WITH 
DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK 
MARCEL CHASTAIN (@MARCELCHASTAIN) 
LA DJANGO - 2014-10-28

REST Easy with Django-Rest-Framework

  • 1.
    REST EASY WITH DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK MARCEL CHASTAIN (@MARCELCHASTAIN) LA DJANGO - 2014-10-28
  • 2.
    WHAT WE’LL COVER • What’s REST? Why/when would we use it? • REST challenges • Django solutions • Installing DRF • DRF Core Components (and Django counterparts) • Building our Demo API • Customizing • Resources
  • 3.
  • 4.
  • 5.
    BUT I’M NOTTIRED REST stands for Representational State Transfer All 4 CRUD operations Uses HTTP requests to: • Post data(Create, Update) • Read data • Delete
  • 6.
    WHY REST? Betterthan SOAP XML is the stuff of nightmares Uses JSON for data structures Popular – most modern 3rd party web APIs use RESTful endpoints
  • 7.
    COMMON USE-CASES Single-PageApplications Real-Time Services SaaS APIs Creating external APIs for existing sites Mobile Apps WebComponents, Polymer, modular site design Modern JS Site Frameworks (Angular, Ember, Backbone, etc)
  • 8.
  • 9.
  • 10.
    ALL TOGETHER NOW: We should roll our own!
  • 11.
    … OK JUSTBE SURE TO INCLUDE • serialization/deserialization
  • 12.
    … OK JUSTBE SURE TO INCLUDE • serialization/deserialization • parsing
  • 13.
    … OK JUSTBE SURE TO INCLUDE • serialization/deserialization • parsing • model introspection
  • 14.
    … OK JUSTBE SURE TO INCLUDE • serialization/deserialization • parsing • model introspection • relationship traversal • pluggable authentication • permissions • url structure • proper HTTP methods • pagination • forms • error handling • request filters • consistency • maybe some generic views • request throttling • …and tests!
  • 15.
  • 17.
  • 18.
    PROPER SOLUTIONS django-rest-framework • 900+ forks • 304 contributors • 3k stars • The greatest documentation I’ve seen in a library django-tastypie • 900+ forks • 112 contributors • 2.6k stars • Delicious-sounding name
  • 19.
  • 20.
  • 21.
    INSTALLATION pip installdjangorestframework pip install markdown # optional pip install django-filter # optional
  • 22.
    INSTALLATION (2) Addto INSTALLED_APPS # settings.py INSTALLED_APPS = ( ... ‘rest_framework’, )
  • 23.
    INSTALLATION (3) Includethe login/logout views # urls.py
  • 24.
  • 25.
  • 26.
  • 27.
  • 28.
    IN TRADITIONAL DJANGO: 1. Models/Querysets 2. Class-Based Views/Mixins 3. Generic Views 4. URLs 5. HTTP Requests 6. Rendered Responses IN DRF: 1. Serializers 2. APIViews/Mixins 3. ViewSets 4. Routers 5. HTTP Requests 6. HTTP Responses
  • 29.
    1. SERIALIZERS “Serializersallow complex data to be converted to native Python datatypes that can then be easily rendered in JSON, XML or other content types”
  • 30.
    1.1 SERIALIZERS Declarativesyntax, similar to Forms/ModelForms Automatically handle single Model instances or Querysets
  • 31.
    1.2 SERIALIZERS #using it >>> note = Note.objects.first() >>> serializer = NoteSerializer(note) >>> serializer.data {u'id': 1, 'body': u'First, do no harm.', 'pub_date': datetime.datetime(2014, 10, 28, 11, 23, 30, tzinfo=<UTC>), 'title': u'Hippocratic Oath', 'user': { 'id': 1, 'username': u'demo', 'email': u'demo@demo.com' } }
  • 32.
    2. APIVIEWS Subclassof Django’s View class Simple - has .get() .post(), etc methods Some Differences: • Requests not normal HTTPRequest (more later) • Responses are not normal HTTPResponse (more later) • Auth, permissions, throttling done in advance
  • 33.
  • 34.
    3. VIEWSETS Similarto Django’s Generic Views. “A type of Class-Based View that provides actions like .list() and .create() instead of .get() and .post()” Combine the logic for a set of related views into one class, for all the actions you’ll need to take.
  • 35.
  • 36.
  • 37.
    4. URL ROUTERS Automatic URL routing Simple, quick, consistent way of wiring your view logic to a set of URLs
  • 38.
    4. URL ROUTERS Automatic URL routing Simple, quick, consistent way of wiring your view logic to a set of URLs
  • 39.
    5. REQUESTS •In an APIView or ViewSet, ‘request’ is a DRF Request. • Incoming JSON data in request is processed just like Form data • Makes request data available as • request.DATA (vs .POST) • request.FILES • request.QUERY_PARAMS (vs .GET)
  • 40.
    6. RESPONSES Usescontent-negotiation to render final content (Hence why built-in API Console shows rich interface to us but would deliver plain JSON to an AJAX request)
  • 41.
    IN TRADITIONAL DJANGO: 1. Models/Querysets 2. Class-Based Views/Mixins 3. Generic Views 4. URLs 5. HTTPRequest 6. HTTPResponse IN DRF: 1. Serializers 2. APIViews/Mixins 3. ViewSets 4. URL Routers 5. DRF ‘Request’ 6. DRF ‘Response’ REVIEW:
  • 42.
  • 43.
    INSTALLATION (REPO) gitclone https://github.com/marcelchastain/drf-demo.git
  • 44.
  • 45.
  • 46.
    CUSTOMIZING VIEWS •queryset • serializer_class • filter_class • authentication_classes (rest_framework.authentication) • permission_classes (rest_framework.permissions) • parser_classes (rest_framework.parsers) • renderer_classes (rest_framework.renderers) • throttle_classes (rest_framework.throttling) • paginate_by, max_paginate_by (Defaults for most can be set in settings.py)
  • 47.
  • 48.
    RESOURCES Docs: http://www.django-rest-framework.org Tutorial: http://www.django-rest-framework.org/#tutorial IRC: #restframework on irc.freenode.net StackOverflow: ‘django-rest-framework’ tag Author: Tom Christie (@_tomchristie) Commercial Support: “DAB Apps” http://dabapps.com
  • 49.
    REST EASY WITH DJANGO-REST-FRAMEWORK MARCEL CHASTAIN (@MARCELCHASTAIN) LA DJANGO - 2014-10-28

Editor's Notes

  • #31 NoteSerializer.user would have been a plain primary key, but we use a nested serializer