django-patterns

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Django architecture patterns, REST API design with DRF, ORM best practices, caching, signals, middleware, and production-grade Django apps.

Django Development Patterns

Production-grade Django architecture patterns for scalable, maintainable applications.

When to Activate

Building Django web applications
Designing Django REST Framework APIs
Working with Django ORM and models
Setting up Django project structure
Implementing caching, signals, middleware

Project Structure

Recommended Layout

myproject/
├── config/
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── base.py          # Base settings
│   │   ├── development.py   # Dev settings
│   │   ├── production.py    # Production settings
│   │   └── test.py          # Test settings
│   ├── urls.py
│   ├── wsgi.py
│   └── asgi.py
├── manage.py
└── apps/
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── users/
    │   ├── __init__.py
    │   ├── models.py
    │   ├── views.py
    │   ├── serializers.py
    │   ├── urls.py
    │   ├── permissions.py
    │   ├── filters.py
    │   ├── services.py
    │   └── tests/
    └── products/
        └── ...

Split Settings Pattern

from pathlib import Path

BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent.parent

SECRET_KEY = env('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY')
DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = []

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'rest_framework',
    'rest_framework.authtoken',
    'corsheaders',
    # Local apps
    'apps.users',
    'apps.products',
]

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

ROOT_URLCONF = 'config.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'config.wsgi.application'

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': env('DB_NAME'),
        'USER': env('DB_USER'),
        'PASSWORD': env('DB_PASSWORD'),
        'HOST': env('DB_HOST'),
        'PORT': env('DB_PORT', default='5432'),
    }
}

# config/settings/development.py
from .base import *

DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['localhost', '127.0.0.1']

DATABASES['default']['NAME'] = 'myproject_dev'

INSTALLED_APPS += ['debug_toolbar']

MIDDLEWARE += ['debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware']

EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend'

# config/settings/production.py
from .base import *

DEBUG = False
ALLOWED_HOSTS = env.list('ALLOWED_HOSTS')
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 31536000
SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS = True
SECURE_HSTS_PRELOAD = True

# Logging
LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'disable_existing_loggers': False,
    'handlers': {
        'file': {
            'level': 'WARNING',
            'class': 'logging.FileHandler',
            'filename': '/var/log/django/django.log',
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'django': {
            'handlers': ['file'],
            'level': 'WARNING',
            'propagate': True,
        },
    },
}

Model Design Patterns

Model Best Practices

from django.db import models
from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractUser
from django.core.validators import MinValueValidator, MaxValueValidator

class User(AbstractUser):
    """Custom user model extending AbstractUser."""
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    phone = models.CharField(max_length=20, blank=True)
    birth_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)

    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    REQUIRED_FIELDS = ['username']

    class Meta:
        db_table = 'users'
        verbose_name = 'user'
        verbose_name_plural = 'users'
        ordering = ['-date_joined']

    def __str__(self):
        return self.email

    def get_full_name(self):
        return f"{self.first_name} {self.last_name}".strip()

class Product(models.Model):
    """Product model with proper field configuration."""
    name = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    slug = models.SlugField(unique=True, max_length=250)
    description = models.TextField(blank=True)
    price = models.DecimalField(
        max_digits=10,
        decimal_places=2,
        validators=[MinValueValidator(0)]
    )
    stock = models.PositiveIntegerField(default=0)
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)
    category = models.ForeignKey(
        'Category',
        on_delete=models.CASCADE,
        related_name='products'
    )
    tags = models.ManyToManyField('Tag', blank=True, related_name='products')
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

    class Meta:
        db_table = 'products'
        ordering = ['-created_at']
        indexes = [
            models.Index(fields=['slug']),
            models.Index(fields=['-created_at']),
            models.Index(fields=['category', 'is_active']),
        ]
        constraints = [
            models.CheckConstraint(
                check=models.Q(price__gte=0),
                name='price_non_negative'
            )
        ]

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

    def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
        if not self.slug:
            self.slug = slugify(self.name)
        super().save(*args, **kwargs)

QuerySet Best Practices

from django.db import models

class ProductQuerySet(models.QuerySet):
    """Custom QuerySet for Product model."""

    def active(self):
        """Return only active products."""
        return self.filter(is_active=True)

    def with_category(self):
        """Select related category to avoid N+1 queries."""
        return self.select_related('category')

    def with_tags(self):
        """Prefetch tags for many-to-many relationship."""
        return self.prefetch_related('tags')

    def in_stock(self):
        """Return products with stock > 0."""
        return self.filter(stock__gt=0)

    def search(self, query):
        """Search products by name or description."""
        return self.filter(
            models.Q(name__icontains=query) |
            models.Q(description__icontains=query)
        )

class Product(models.Model):
    # ... fields ...

    objects = ProductQuerySet.as_manager()  # Use custom QuerySet

# Usage
Product.objects.active().with_category().in_stock()

Manager Methods

class ProductManager(models.Manager):
    """Custom manager for complex queries."""

    def get_or_none(self, **kwargs):
        """Return object or None instead of DoesNotExist."""
        try:
            return self.get(**kwargs)
        except self.model.DoesNotExist:
            return None

    def create_with_tags(self, name, price, tag_names):
        """Create product with associated tags."""
        product = self.create(name=name, price=price)
        tags = [Tag.objects.get_or_create(name=name)[0] for name in tag_names]
        product.tags.set(tags)
        return product

    def bulk_update_stock(self, product_ids, quantity):
        """Bulk update stock for multiple products."""
        return self.filter(id__in=product_ids).update(stock=quantity)

# In model
class Product(models.Model):
    # ... fields ...
    custom = ProductManager()

Django REST Framework Patterns

Serializer Patterns

from rest_framework import serializers
from django.contrib.auth.password_validation import validate_password
from .models import Product, User

class ProductSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    """Serializer for Product model."""

    category_name = serializers.CharField(source='category.name', read_only=True)
    average_rating = serializers.FloatField(read_only=True)
    discount_price = serializers.SerializerMethodField()

    class Meta:
        model = Product
        fields = [
            'id', 'name', 'slug', 'description', 'price',
            'discount_price', 'stock', 'category_name',
            'average_rating', 'created_at'
        ]
        read_only_fields = ['id', 'slug', 'created_at']

    def get_discount_price(self, obj):
        """Calculate discount price if applicable."""
        if hasattr(obj, 'discount') and obj.discount:
            return obj.price * (1 - obj.discount.percent / 100)
        return obj.price

    def validate_price(self, value):
        """Ensure price is non-negative."""
        if value < 0:
            raise serializers.ValidationError("Price cannot be negative.")
        return value

class ProductCreateSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    """Serializer for creating products."""

    class Meta:
        model = Product
        fields = ['name', 'description', 'price', 'stock', 'category']

    def validate(self, data):
        """Custom validation for multiple fields."""
        if data['price'] > 10000 and data['stock'] > 100:
            raise serializers.ValidationError(
                "Cannot have high-value products with large stock."
            )
        return data

class UserRegistrationSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    """Serializer for user registration."""

    password = serializers.CharField(
        write_only=True,
        required=True,
        validators=[validate_password],
        style={'input_type': 'password'}
    )
    password_confirm = serializers.CharField(write_only=True, style={'input_type': 'password'})

    class Meta:
        model = User
        fields = ['email', 'username', 'password', 'password_confirm']

    def validate(self, data):
        """Validate passwords match."""
        if data['password'] != data['password_confirm']:
            raise serializers.ValidationError({
                "password_confirm": "Password fields didn't match."
            })
        return data

    def create(self, validated_data):
        """Create user with hashed password."""
        validated_data.pop('password_confirm')
        password = validated_data.pop('password')
        user = User.objects.create(**validated_data)
        user.set_password(password)
        user.save()
        return user

ViewSet Patterns

from rest_framework import viewsets, status, filters
from rest_framework.decorators import action
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated, IsAdminUser
from django_filters.rest_framework import DjangoFilterBackend
from .models import Product
from .serializers import ProductSerializer, ProductCreateSerializer
from .permissions import IsOwnerOrReadOnly
from .filters import ProductFilter
from .services import ProductService

class ProductViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    """ViewSet for Product model."""

    queryset = Product.objects.select_related('category').prefetch_related('tags')
    permission_classes = [IsAuthenticated, IsOwnerOrReadOnly]
    filter_backends = [DjangoFilterBackend, filters.SearchFilter, filters.OrderingFilter]
    filterset_class = ProductFilter
    search_fields = ['name', 'description']
    ordering_fields = ['price', 'created_at', 'name']
    ordering = ['-created_at']

    def get_serializer_class(self):
        """Return appropriate serializer based on action."""
        if self.action == 'create':
            return ProductCreateSerializer
        return ProductSerializer

    def perform_create(self, serializer):
        """Save with user context."""
        serializer.save(created_by=self.request.user)

    @action(detail=False, methods=['get'])
    def featured(self, request):
        """Return featured products."""
        featured = self.queryset.filter(is_featured=True)[:10]
        serializer = self.get_serializer(featured, many=True)
        return Response(serializer.data)

    @action(detail=True, methods=['post'])
    def purchase(self, request, pk=None):
        """Purchase a product."""
        product = self.get_object()
        service = ProductService()
        result = service.purchase(product, request.user)
        return Response(result, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)

    @action(detail=False, methods=['get'], permission_classes=[IsAuthenticated])
    def my_products(self, request):
        """Return products created by current user."""
        products = self.queryset.filter(created_by=request.user)
        page = self.paginate_queryset(products)
        serializer = self.get_serializer(page, many=True)
        return self.get_paginated_response(serializer.data)

Custom Actions

from rest_framework.decorators import api_view, permission_classes
from rest_framework.permissions import IsAuthenticated
from rest_framework.response import Response

@api_view(['POST'])
@permission_classes([IsAuthenticated])
def add_to_cart(request):
    """Add product to user cart."""
    product_id = request.data.get('product_id')
    quantity = request.data.get('quantity', 1)

    try:
        product = Product.objects.get(id=product_id)
    except Product.DoesNotExist:
        return Response(
            {'error': 'Product not found'},
            status=status.HTTP_404_NOT_FOUND
        )

    cart, _ = Cart.objects.get_or_create(user=request.user)
    CartItem.objects.create(
        cart=cart,
        product=product,
        quantity=quantity
    )

    return Response({'message': 'Added to cart'}, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)

Service Layer Pattern

from typing import Optional
from django.db import transaction
from .models import Order, OrderItem

class OrderService:
    """Service layer for order-related business logic."""

    @staticmethod
    @transaction.atomic
    def create_order(user, cart: Cart) -> Order:
        """Create order from cart."""
        order = Order.objects.create(
            user=user,
            total_price=cart.total_price
        )

        for item in cart.items.all():
            OrderItem.objects.create(
                order=order,
                product=item.product,
                quantity=item.quantity,
                price=item.product.price
            )

        # Clear cart
        cart.items.all().delete()

        return order

    @staticmethod
    def process_payment(order: Order, payment_data: dict) -> bool:
        """Process payment for order."""
        # Integration with payment gateway
        payment = PaymentGateway.charge(
            amount=order.total_price,
            token=payment_data['token']
        )

        if payment.success:
            order.status = Order.Status.PAID
            order.save()
            # Send confirmation email
            OrderService.send_confirmation_email(order)
            return True

        return False

    @staticmethod
    def send_confirmation_email(order: Order):
        """Send order confirmation email."""
        # Email sending logic
        pass

Caching Strategies

View-Level Caching

from django.views.decorators.cache import cache_page
from django.utils.decorators import method_decorator

@method_decorator(cache_page(60 * 15), name='dispatch')  # 15 minutes
class ProductListView(generic.ListView):
    model = Product
    template_name = 'products/list.html'
    context_object_name = 'products'

Template Fragment Caching

{% load cache %}
{% cache 500 sidebar %}
    ... expensive sidebar content ...
{% endcache %}

Low-Level Caching

from django.core.cache import cache

def get_featured_products():
    """Get featured products with caching."""
    cache_key = 'featured_products'
    products = cache.get(cache_key)

    if products is None:
        products = list(Product.objects.filter(is_featured=True))
        cache.set(cache_key, products, timeout=60 * 15)  # 15 minutes

    return products

QuerySet Caching

from django.core.cache import cache

def get_popular_categories():
    cache_key = 'popular_categories'
    categories = cache.get(cache_key)

    if categories is None:
        categories = list(Category.objects.annotate(
            product_count=Count('products')
        ).filter(product_count__gt=10).order_by('-product_count')[:20])
        cache.set(cache_key, categories, timeout=60 * 60)  # 1 hour

    return categories

Signals

Signal Patterns

from django.db.models.signals import post_save
from django.dispatch import receiver
from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
from .models import Profile

User = get_user_model()

@receiver(post_save, sender=User)
def create_user_profile(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
    """Create profile when user is created."""
    if created:
        Profile.objects.create(user=instance)

@receiver(post_save, sender=User)
def save_user_profile(sender, instance, **kwargs):
    """Save profile when user is saved."""
    instance.profile.save()

# apps/users/apps.py
from django.apps import AppConfig

class UsersConfig(AppConfig):
    default_auto_field = 'django.db.models.BigAutoField'
    name = 'apps.users'

    def ready(self):
        """Import signals when app is ready."""
        import apps.users.signals

Middleware

Custom Middleware

import time
from django.utils.deprecation import MiddlewareMixin

class ActiveUserMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin):
    """Middleware to track active users."""

    def process_request(self, request):
        """Process incoming request."""
        if request.user.is_authenticated:
            # Update last active time
            request.user.last_active = timezone.now()
            request.user.save(update_fields=['last_active'])

class RequestLoggingMiddleware(MiddlewareMixin):
    """Middleware for logging requests."""

    def process_request(self, request):
        """Log request start time."""
        request.start_time = time.time()

    def process_response(self, request, response):
        """Log request duration."""
        if hasattr(request, 'start_time'):
            duration = time.time() - request.start_time
            logger.info(f'{request.method} {request.path} - {response.status_code} - {duration:.3f}s')
        return response

Performance Optimization

N+1 Query Prevention

# Bad - N+1 queries
products = Product.objects.all()
for product in products:
    print(product.category.name)  # Separate query for each product

# Good - Single query with select_related
products = Product.objects.select_related('category').all()
for product in products:
    print(product.category.name)

# Good - Prefetch for many-to-many
products = Product.objects.prefetch_related('tags').all()
for product in products:
    for tag in product.tags.all():
        print(tag.name)

Database Indexing

class Product(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=200, db_index=True)
    slug = models.SlugField(unique=True)
    category = models.ForeignKey('Category', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    class Meta:
        indexes = [
            models.Index(fields=['name']),
            models.Index(fields=['-created_at']),
            models.Index(fields=['category', 'created_at']),
        ]

Bulk Operations

# Bulk create
Product.objects.bulk_create([
    Product(name=f'Product {i}', price=10.00)
    for i in range(1000)
])

# Bulk update
products = Product.objects.all()[:100]
for product in products:
    product.is_active = True
Product.objects.bulk_update(products, ['is_active'])

# Bulk delete
Product.objects.filter(stock=0).delete()

Quick Reference

Pattern	Description
Split settings	Separate dev/prod/test settings
Custom QuerySet	Reusable query methods
Service Layer	Business logic separation
ViewSet	REST API endpoints
Serializer validation	Request/response transformation
select_related	Foreign key optimization
prefetch_related	Many-to-many optimization
Cache first	Cache expensive operations
Signals	Event-driven actions
Middleware	Request/response processing

Remember: Django provides many shortcuts, but for production applications, structure and organization matter more than concise code. Build for maintainability.

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