Why Django REST Framework?

Django REST Framework (DRF) remains the industry standard for building robust APIs in Python. In 2025, despite the rise of FastAPI, DRF's ecosystem, ORM integration, and rapid development capabilities make it the go-to choice for complex backends.

Step 1: Installation

pip install djangorestframework

Add 'rest_framework' to your INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py.

Step 2: Serializers

Serializers allow complex data like querysets and model instances to be converted to native Python datatypes that can then be easily rendered into JSON.

from rest_framework import serializers
from .models import Article

class ArticleSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Article
        fields = ['id', 'title', 'content', 'created_at']
      

Step 3: ViewSets and Routers

ViewSets abstract away the boilerplate code for CRUD operations. Paired with Routers, they automatically generate the URL conf for your API.

from rest_framework import viewsets
from .serializers import ArticleSerializer
from .models import Article

class ArticleViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = Article.objects.all()
    serializer_class = ArticleSerializer
      

Authentication & Permissions

For modern APIs, JSON Web Tokens (JWT) are preferred over session auth. Use the djangorestframework-simplejwt package to easily implement JWT authentication. Always secure your endpoints by overriding the permission_classes tuple in your views.