django-rest-framework/docs/index.rst
2012-02-25 18:45:17 +00:00

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.. meta::
:description: A lightweight REST framework for Django.
:keywords: django, python, REST, RESTful, API, interface, framework
Django REST framework
=====================
Introduction
------------
Django REST framework is a lightweight REST framework for Django, that aims to make it easy to build well-connected, self-describing RESTful Web APIs.
**Browse example APIs created with Django REST framework:** `The Sandbox <http://rest.ep.io/>`_
Features:
---------
* Automatically provides an awesome Django admin style `browse-able self-documenting API <http://rest.ep.io>`_.
* Clean, simple, views for Resources, using Django's new `class based views <http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/class-based-views/>`_.
* Support for ModelResources with out-of-the-box default implementations and input validation.
* Pluggable :mod:`.parsers`, :mod:`renderers`, :mod:`authentication` and :mod:`permissions` - Easy to customise.
* Content type negotiation using HTTP Accept headers.
* Optional support for forms as input validation.
* Modular architecture - MixIn classes can be used without requiring the :class:`.Resource` or :class:`.ModelResource` classes.
Resources
---------
**Project hosting:** `GitHub <https://github.com/tomchristie/django-rest-framework>`_.
* The ``djangorestframework`` package is `available on PyPI <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/djangorestframework>`_.
* We have an active `discussion group <http://groups.google.com/group/django-rest-framework>`_.
* Bug reports are handled on the `issue tracker <https://github.com/tomchristie/django-rest-framework/issues>`_.
* There is a `Jenkins CI server <http://jenkins.tibold.nl/job/djangorestframework/>`_ which tracks test status and coverage reporting. (Thanks Marko!)
Any and all questions, thoughts, bug reports and contributions are *hugely appreciated*.
Requirements
------------
* Python (2.5, 2.6, 2.7 supported)
* Django (1.2, 1.3, 1.4 supported)
* `django.contrib.staticfiles`_ (or `django-staticfiles`_ for Django 1.2)
* `URLObject`_ >= 2.0.0
* `Markdown`_ >= 2.1.0 (Optional)
* `PyYAML`_ >= 3.10 (Optional)
Installation
------------
You can install Django REST framework using ``pip`` or ``easy_install``::
pip install djangorestframework
Or get the latest development version using git::
git clone git@github.com:tomchristie/django-rest-framework.git
Setup
-----
To add Django REST framework to a Django project:
* Ensure that the ``djangorestframework`` directory is on your ``PYTHONPATH``.
* Add ``djangorestframework`` to your ``INSTALLED_APPS``.
* Add the following to your URLconf. (To include the REST framework Login/Logout views.)::
urlpatterns = patterns('',
...
url(r'^restframework', include('djangorestframework.urls', namespace='djangorestframework'))
)
For more information on settings take a look at the :ref:`setup` section.
Getting Started
---------------
Using Django REST framework can be as simple as adding a few lines to your urlconf.
The following example exposes your `MyModel` model through an api. It will provide two views:
* A view which lists your model instances and simultaniously allows creation of instances
from that view.
* Another view which lets you view, update or delete your model instances individually.
``urls.py``::
from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, url
from djangorestframework.resources import ModelResource
from djangorestframework.views import ListOrCreateModelView, InstanceModelView
from myapp.models import MyModel
class MyResource(ModelResource):
model = MyModel
urlpatterns = patterns('',
url(r'^$', ListOrCreateModelView.as_view(resource=MyResource)),
url(r'^(?P<pk>[^/]+)/$', InstanceModelView.as_view(resource=MyResource)),
)
.. include:: howto.rst
.. include:: library.rst
.. include:: examples.rst
.. toctree::
:hidden:
contents
.. include:: ../CHANGELOG.rst
Indices and tables
------------------
* :ref:`genindex`
* :ref:`modindex`
* :ref:`search`
.. _django.contrib.staticfiles: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/contrib/staticfiles/
.. _django-staticfiles: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-staticfiles/
.. _URLObject: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/URLObject/
.. _Markdown: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/Markdown/
.. _PyYAML: http://pypi.python.org/pypi/PyYAML