Django REST Framework Tutorial Series

Introduction

• Step by step guide to build a REST API.
• Enables communication between different software (e.g., React.js, Vue.js, Django, FastAPI).
• Focus on building a pure Django REST API first, then using Django REST Framework (DRF).

Tools Overview

• GitHub: All code available for reference.
  • GitHub link: cfe.sh/github
• Django REST Framework: The main tool for building the API.
• Python: Required programming language.
• Python Requests: For testing the API.
• Django CORS Headers: To handle cross-origin requests.
• VS Code: Code editor.

Setting Up Django Project

1. Create a folder for the project: mkdir -p ~/dev/drf
2. Change directory to the project folder: cd ~/dev/drf
3. Create a virtual environment: python3.10 -m venv venv
4. Activate the virtual environment:
   • Mac/Linux: source venv/bin/activate
   • Windows: .in\activate
5. Install required packages in requirements.txt:
   • Django, Django REST Framework, PyYAML, Python requests, Django CORS headers.

Creating the Django Project

1. Create a Django project: django-admin startproject cfe_home .
2. Create a Django app for the API: python manage.py startapp api
3. Define models, serializers, and views following DRF conventions.

Building the API

• Create basic API views and serializers using DRF.
• Implement URL routing for the API.
• Add authentication and permission checks.

Integrating with Algolia (Search Service)

1. Sign up for Algolia and create an index for product search.
2. Use Algolia's API to store and retrieve products.
3. Implement client-side JavaScript to handle search queries and display results.
   • Use fetch to make network requests to the API.
   • Handle authentication with JWT.
   • Implement pagination for search results.

Advanced Features

• Implement filtering by public status and user ownership in search results.
• Use Algolia's instant search features for real-time search results.
• Handle nested serialization for related fields in product and user models.

Summary

• Built a fully functional REST API using Django and DRF.
• Integrated Algolia for powerful search capabilities.
• Implemented authentication, permissions, and client-side interaction with the API.