Haroon966 Backend Dev (Django)
Apply when implementing or reviewing Django backend code: views, APIs (DRF), auth, settings, middleware, commands, or deployment.
When to Use This Skill
- Django views, URLs, request/response handling
- Django REST Framework (DRF): APIs, serializers, ViewSets
- Authentication and authorization (Django auth, JWT, session)
- Middleware, Django settings, environment config
- Management commands, Celery or background tasks
- Deployment (WSGI, env vars, production config)
- Backend testing in Django
Principles
- Structure: Fat models / thin views where it makes sense; put business logic in models or services, not in view bodies.
- Errors: Return clear HTTP status codes and consistent error payloads; use DRF exceptions and validation.
- Security: Validate and sanitize input; use CSRF protection; never put secrets in code—use env vars for SECRET_KEY, DB URLs, API keys.
- Built-ins first: Use Django’s auth, permissions, signals, and DRF features before writing custom code.
Patterns
- URLs: Use namespacing and clear names; keep urlpatterns organized (include by app or feature).
- Views: Prefer class-based views (DRF ViewSets, Django generic views) when they fit; function-based when simpler.
- DRF: ViewSets + serializers for CRUD; use permissions classes; throttle and filter as needed.
- Settings: Split base / local / production; read from env (e.g. django-environ or os.environ).
- Migrations: Don’t write migrations by hand for schema changes; use
makemigrations. For schema design and migration strategy, see database-dev.
Conventions
- Follow project structure: apps,
settings.py,urls.py, consistent naming. - Use Django and DRF idioms (e.g. get_queryset, get_serializer_class, permission_classes).
- Document API endpoints (docstrings, OpenAPI, or a linked API doc).
For schema design and migrations, see database-dev.