Views In Django

In Django’s MVT architecture, views handle user requests and return responses. They act as a bridge between models (data) and templates (UI), deciding what the user sees in the browser.

A view is a Python function or class that receives an HTTP request, processes data, and returns a response. This response can be:

• An HTML page (rendered from a template)
• A redirect (to another URL)
• An error (like 404 Not Found)
• JSON, XML, images, or any browser-compatible content

Illustration of How to create and use a Django view using an Example. Consider a project named geeksforgeeks having an app named geeks. 

After you have a project ready, we can create a view in geeks/views.py,

# import HttpResponse from django
from django.http import HttpResponse
# import datetime
import datetime

# create a function-based view
def geeks_view(request):
    # fetch current date and time
    now = datetime.datetime.now()
    # convert to string
    html = "Time is {}".format(now)
    # return HttpResponse
    return HttpResponse(html)

Let's step through this code one line at a time: 

• First, we import the class HttpResponse from the django.http module, along with Python’s datetime library.
• Next, we define a function called geeks_view. This is the view function. Each view function takes an HttpRequest object as its first parameter, which is typically named request.
• The view returns an HttpResponse object that contains the generated response. Each view function is responsible for returning an HttpResponse object.

Let's get this view to working, in geeks/urls.py,

from django.urls import path

# importing views from views.py
from .views import geeks_view

urlpatterns = [
    path('', geeks_view),
]

Now, visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

Django View Types

Django provides two main types of views to handle web requests and return responses:

1. Function-Based Views (FBVs): Written as Python functions. They are simple and ideal for small features or straightforward logic, such as displaying a list of items, handling form submissions, or showing a single detail page.
2. Class-Based Views (CBVs): Written as Python classes. They offer better organization, reusability, and support for object-oriented features. They are suited for complex applications, reusable components, or features that require handling multiple HTTP methods cleanly.

Both FBVs and CBVs support the common CRUD operations: Create, Retrieve/Detail, Update, Delete.

Applications and Features:

Function-Based Views are typically used for simple features, such as:

• Displaying a list of items
• Showing details of a single object
• Handling basic form submissions

Class-Based Views are best for complex or reusable features, such as:

• Generic CRUD operations
• Multi-step forms
• Features requiring multiple HTTP methods in a clean, organized structure

Related Articles:

• Function-Based Views (FBVs) vs Clas Based VIews (CBVs)