# Requests > If you're doing REST-based web service stuff ... you should ignore request.POST. > > — Malcom Tredinnick, [Django developers group][cite] REST framework's `Request` class extends the standard `HttpRequest`, adding support for parsing multiple content types, allowing browser-based `PUT`, `DELETE` and other methods, and adding flexible per-request authentication. ## .method `request.method` returns the uppercased string representation of the request's HTTP method. Browser-based `PUT`, `DELETE` and other requests are supported, and can be made by using a hidden form field named `_method` in a regular `POST` form. ## .content_type `request.content`, returns a string object representing the mimetype of the HTTP request's body, if one exists. ## .DATA `request.DATA` returns the parsed content of the request body. This is similar to the standard `HttpRequest.POST` attribute except that: 1. It supports parsing the content of HTTP methods other than `POST`, meaning that you can access the content of `PUT` and `PATCH` requests. 2. It supports parsing multiple content types, rather than just form data. For example you can handle incoming json data in the same way that you handle incoming form data. ## .FILES `request.FILES` returns any uploaded files that may be present in the content of the request body. This is the same as the standard `HttpRequest` behavior, except that the same flexible request parsing that is used for `request.DATA`. This allows you to support file uploads from multiple content-types. For example you can write a parser that supports `POST`ing the raw content of a file, instead of using form-encoded file uploads. ## .user `request.user` returns a `django.contrib.auth.models.User` instance. ## .auth `request.auth` returns any additional authentication context that may not be contained in `request.user`. The exact behavior of `request.auth` depends on what authentication has been set in `request.authentication`. For many types of authentication this will simply be `None`, but it may also be an object representing a permission scope, an expiry time, or any other information that might be contained in a token-based authentication scheme. ## .parsers `request.parsers` should be set to a list of `Parser` instances that can be used to parse the content of the request body. `request.parsers` may no longer be altered once `request.DATA`, `request.FILES` or `request.POST` have been accessed. If you're using the `rest_framework.views.View` class... **[TODO]** ## .stream `request.stream` returns a stream representing the content of the request body. You will not typically need to access `request.stream`, unless you're writing a `Parser` class. ## .authentication `request.authentication` should be set to a list of `Authentication` instances that can be used to authenticate the request. `request.authentication` may no longer be altered once `request.user` or `request.auth` have been accessed. If you're using the `rest_framework.views.View` class... **[TODO]** [cite]: https://groups.google.com/d/topic/django-developers/dxI4qVzrBY4/discussion