What is Django & Django REST Framework? Should You Learn Them?

Mostafa Hatem — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 17:23:19 +0000

What is Django REST Framework?
If you interested in web development, you have probably heard of Django and Django REST Framework.

But What exactly are they?
what is the difference between Django and Django REST Framework?
And most importantly -- Should you learn them?
let's break it down.

What is Django?

Django is a high-level web framework built with Python.
A web framework provides developers with tools and structures that make it easier to build web applications without having to implement everything from scratch.

instead of spending your time building basic functionality such ad:

URL routing
Database interactions
User authentications
Security mechanisms
Form handling
Administrative interface

Django provides many of these features ad part of its ecosystem,

This allows developers to focus more on the actual functionality and business logic of their applications.

What can you build with Django?

Django can be used to build many types of web applications, including:

E-commerce platforms
Social networks
Content management systems
SaaS applications
Dashvoards
Booking systems
Educational platforms
Business management systems
APIs and backend services

Django is also known for following the principle:

"Don't Repeat Yourself"

It provides a structured approach to developing applications, which makes projects easier to maintain and scale.

What is Django REST Framework?

Now let's talk about Django REST Framework, commonly known as DRF.

Django REST Framework is a powerful toolkit built on top of Django for creating Web APIs.

But what does that actually mean?

Imagine you have an application with users and products.

Your application might need to retrieve information about products from the server.

Instead of returning an HTML page, an API can return structured data such as JSON:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": "laptop",
  "price": 30000,
}

Another application can then consume this data.

For example:

Web Application
       ↓
    HTTP Request
       ↓
Django REST Framework
       ↓
    Database
       ↓
    JSON Response
       ↓
    Application

This makes DRF useful for building backends that communicate with different types of clients.

Why do we need APIs?

Modern applications are not limited to traditional websites.

Today, the same backend might need to communicate with:

Web applications
Mobile applications
Desktop applications
Other services
IoT devices

Instead of building a completely separate backend for every client, you can expose your application's functionality through APIs.

For example:

      Django + DRF
                      │
          ┌───────────┼───────────┐
          ↓           ↓           ↓
        Website     Mobile      Other
        App         App         Services

All of them can communicate with the same backend through APIs.

This is one of the main reasons REST APIs have become such an important part of modern software development.

Django vs Django REST Framework

So what's the difference?

The simplest way to understand it is:

*Django is the web framework.
*
*Django REST Framework is a toolkit for building APIs with Django.
*
Django provides the foundation:

URL routing
ORM
Authentication
Security
Middleware
Database integration
Admin interface
Application structure

DRF builds on top of Django and adds tools specifically useful for APIs, such as:

Serializers
API Views
ViewSets
Routers
Permissions
Authentication
Pagination
Filtering
Browsable API

So DRF isn't really a replacement for Django.

It extends Django for API development.

Why Learn Django?

There are several reasons why Django is worth considering.

*1. Python
*
Django is built with Python.

Python is one of the most widely used programming languages and is used in many areas including:

Web development
Data science
Artificial intelligence
Automation
Scientific computing

Learning Django also gives you practical experience using Python to build real applications.

2. Batteries In

One of Django's biggest advantages is that it provides many things you need to build a web application.

Instead of assembling dozens of unrelated libraries for basic functionality, Django provides a large set of built-in tools.

For example, Django includes:

ORM
Authentication
Admin panel
Security features
URL routing
Forms
Middleware
Sessions
Migrations

This approach can significantly speed up development.

3. Django ORM

Django includes an ORM —** Object-Relational Mapper.**

It allows you to interact with databases using Python objects and queries instead of writing SQL for every operation.

For example:

Product.objects.filter(price__gt=1000)

The **ORM **translates this into the appropriate database query.

This makes working with databases much more convenient, especially when building complex applications.

Why Learn Django REST Framework?

If you're interested in building APIs, DRF has several advantages.

*1. It Works Naturally With Django
*
If your application already uses Django, DRF integrates directly with it.

You can use Django's:

Models
ORM
Authentication
Permissions
Admin
Middleware

while adding API functionality through DRF.

2. Serializers

One of the most important concepts in DRF is the Serializer.

A serializer helps convert complex data such as Django model instances into formats that can easily be sent through an API, usually JSON.

For example:

Django Model
     ↓
Serializer
     ↓
   JSON
     ↓
API Client

It can also handle incoming data and validate it before it reaches your application.

3. Authentication and Permissions

Real applications need to control who can access what.

For example:

Anonymous User → View Products

Customer → Create Orders

Manager → Manage Products

Admin → Manage Everything

DRF provides authentication and permission mechanisms that help developers implement these rules.

Pagination and Filtering

Imagine an API contains 100,000 products.

You probably don't want to return all of them in a single response.

DRF provides tools for things like:

Pagination
Filtering
Searching
Ordering

These features become extremely useful as applications grow.

5. Browsable API

One of DRF's most useful development features is its Browsable API.

Instead of testing every endpoint only through tools such as Postman, you can interact with your API directly through a web interface.

For someone learning API development, this can make understanding and testing APIs much easier.

Is Django REST Framework Still Worth Learning?

The answer depends on your goals.

If you want to work with Python and web development, Django is a strong framework to learn.

And if you want to build APIs using Django,** Django REST Framework is one of the most important technologies in the Django ecosystem**.

But you don't need to learn every feature immediately.

A reasonable learning path could be:

Python
↓
Web Fundamentals
↓
Django Fundamentals
↓
Models & ORM
↓
Authentication
↓
Django REST Framework
↓
Serializers
↓
API Views / ViewSets
↓
Permissions
↓
Authentication
↓
Filtering & Pagination
↓
Testing & Deployment

Should You Learn Django or Django REST Framework?

This isn't really an either/or decision.

If you're starting with Django, learn the Django fundamentals first.

Understand:

How Django works
URLs
Views
Models
ORM
Migrations
Authentication
Applications

Then move into Django REST Framework.

Once you understand the fundamentals, DRF becomes much easier to understand because you are building APIs on top of concepts you already know.

Final Thoughts

Django is a powerful Python web framework designed to make building web applications easier, faster, and more structured.

Django REST Framework extends Django with powerful tools for building REST APIs.

Together, they can be used to build complete backend systems for:

Web applications
Mobile applications
SaaS platforms
E-commerce systems
Dashboards
Business applications
And many other types of software.

So,** should you learn them?**

If you're interested in Python and web development, Django is definitely worth considering.

And if your goal is to build APIs with Django, learning Django REST Framework is a natural next step.

The important thing isn't simply learning a framework.

It's understanding how web applications, APIs, databases, authentication, and backend systems actually work.

And Django + DRF can be a very good way to learn and build those systems.

DEV Community: Mostafa Hatem

What is Django & Django REST Framework? Should You Learn Them?

What is Django?

What is Django REST Framework?

Why do we need APIs?

Django vs Django REST Framework

Why Learn Django?

2. Batteries In

3. Django ORM

Why Learn Django REST Framework?

2. Serializers

3. Authentication and Permissions

5. Browsable API

Is Django REST Framework Still Worth Learning?

Should You Learn Django or Django REST Framework?

Final Thoughts