Intro

In Django, particularly when working with Django REST Framework (DRF), there are several built-in router classes that help in automatically generating URL patterns for your API views. The main built-in routers provided by DRF include:

  • SimpleRouter

    This is the most basic router, generating routes for list, create, retrieve, update, and destroy actions for your viewsets. It doesn't include any routes for actions like extra actions.

    Getting started

  • DefaultRouter

    This router extends SimpleRouter by additionally including a default root view that returns a list of all available API endpoints. This makes it very useful for creating a browsable API interface.

    Getting started

Which One is the Best?

  • DefaultRouter: If you want a straightforward setup with a browsable API interface, DefaultRouter is usually the best choice. It includes all the basic routes and a root API view, making it easy to navigate and test your API.

  • SimpleRouter: If you prefer a more minimalistic setup without the root API view, SimpleRouter is a good choice. It’s lighter and doesn’t include the extra view that DefaultRouter provides.

  • Custom Router: If you have very specific routing requirements that aren’t covered by SimpleRouter or DefaultRouter, creating a custom router by subclassing one of these might be the best approach.

In most cases, DefaultRouter is the best option because it offers all the functionality of SimpleRouter plus the additional convenience of a root API view, making your API more user-friendly, especially during development.

Example

The SimpleRouter is the most basic router, generating routes for standard actions (list, create, retrieve, update, and destroy) for your viewsets.

# views.py
from rest_framework import viewsets
from myapp.models import MyModel
from myapp.serializers import MyModelSerializer

class MyModelViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
    serializer_class = MyModelSerializer

# urls.py
from rest_framework.routers import SimpleRouter
from myapp.views import MyModelViewSet

router = SimpleRouter()
router.register(r'mymodels', MyModelViewSet)

urlpatterns = router.urls

Generated Routes:

/mymodels/ (GET, POST)
/mymodels/{pk}/ (GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE)

The DefaultRouter extends SimpleRouter by including a default root API view, which provides a browsable interface listing all the available endpoints.

# views.py
from rest_framework import viewsets
from myapp.models import MyModel
from myapp.serializers import MyModelSerializer

class MyModelViewSet(viewsets.ModelViewSet):
    queryset = MyModel.objects.all()
    serializer_class = MyModelSerializer

# urls.py
from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter
from myapp.views import MyModelViewSet

router = DefaultRouter()
router.register(r'mymodels', MyModelViewSet)

urlpatterns = router.urls

Generated Routes:

/mymodels/ (GET, POST)
/mymodels/{pk}/ (GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE)
/ (root API view)

These classes are used internally by SimpleRouter and DefaultRouter to define the patterns for the routes. They are typically not used directly but can be subclassed if you need a very customized router.

If you need something beyond what SimpleRouter or DefaultRouter offers, you can create a custom router by subclassing SimpleRouter or DefaultRouter.

from rest_framework.routers import DefaultRouter

class CustomRouter(DefaultRouter):
    # Override methods or add custom route handling here
    pass

router = CustomRouter()
router.register(r'mymodels', MyModelViewSet)

urlpatterns = router.urls