What are URLs and Views in Django?

Part 2: Django Series

In this article series on Django, we will learn what are URLs and Views in Django.

In Django, a URL is a unique string that represents a specific resource or action on a web application. URLs are used to route users to the appropriate content or functionality when they visit a web application.

In Django, URLs are created using a pattern defined in the application’s URLconf (URL configuration). A URLconf maps a URL pattern to a view function, which is a Python function that handles the request and returns a response.

The view function is responsible for performing the necessary logic and returning a response to the user. This can include rendering a template, returning a redirect, or returning an HTTP error.

To create a URL in Django, you first need to define a URL pattern in the URLconf. The pattern consists of a regular expression that matches the desired URL, and a view function to handle the request.

For example, consider a simple Django application with a URLconf that defines a URL pattern for a homepage:

from django.conf.urls import url

from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    url(r'^$', views.homepage, name='homepage'),
]

In this example, the URL pattern r'^$' matches the empty string, which corresponds to the homepage of the application. The view function views.homepage is called to handle the request and return a response.

In addition to defining the URL pattern, you also need to define the view function that will handle the request. The view function is a Python function that takes a request and returns a response.

For example, the view function for the homepage might look like this:

def homepage(request):
    return render(request, 'homepage.html')

This view function uses Django’s render function to render the homepage.html template and return it as a response to the user.

Once you have defined your URL patterns and view functions, Django’s URL resolver will automatically route requests to the appropriate view function based on the URL.

For example, if a user visits the URL /, Django will route the request to the homepage view function and return the rendered homepage.html template as a response.

In summary, URLs and views are an important part of Django’s request-response cycle. URLs define the patterns that users can visit on a web application, and views handle the requests and return the appropriate response. By defining URL patterns and view functions, you can create a dynamic and interactive web application with Django.

Hope you get some insights into Django from this article. See you again in another blog.