Building a CRUD API With Django and Django Rest Framework

In here, we are going to create a API that can create, read, update, and delete tasks with Django and Django Rest Framework to help you enhance your web application and improve user experience.

Setting Up the Django Project

1. Create a virtual environment

   shell
   python -m venv env

2. Activate virtual environment

   shell
   env\scripts\activate # windows
   source env/bin/activate #macOS and linux

3. Install Django and DRF (Django Rest Framework):

   shell
   pip install django djangorestframework

4. Create a Django Project:

   shell
   django-admin startproject myproject
   cd myproject

5. Create a Django App:

   shell
   python manage.py startapp crudapp

6. Add the App and DRF to INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py:

   python
   INSTALLED_APPS = [
       ...
       'rest_framework',
       'crudapp',
   ]

Creating Models

Define your models in crudapp/models.py. For example, a simple Book model:

python
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

Create and Run Migrations

shell
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

Creating Serializers

Create a serializer for your Book model in crudapp/serializers.py:

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

Creating Views

Create views in crudapp/views.py using DRF's generic views:

python
from rest_framework import generics
from .models import Book
from .serializers import BookSerializer
# Create Book's record.
class BookListCreate(generics.ListCreateAPIView):
    queryset = Book.objects.all()
    serializer_class = BookSerializer
# Retrive, Update and Delete Book's record.
class BookRetrieveUpdateDestroy(generics.RetrieveUpdateDestroyAPIView):
    queryset = Book.objects.all()
    serializer_class = BookSerializer

Creating URLs

Define your URLs in crudapp/urls.py:

python
from django.urls import path
from .views import BookListCreate, BookRetrieveUpdateDestroy
urlpatterns = [
    path('books/', BookListCreate.as_view(), name='book-list-create'),
    path('books/<int:pk>/', BookRetrieveUpdateDestroy.as_view(), name='book-rud'),
]

Include your app's URLs in the project-level urls.py:

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

Testing the API

Run the development server:

shell
python manage.py runserver

You can now test the API using tools like Postman or cURL