Django REST Framework (DRF) Interview Preparations (Questions and Answers)

1. What is Django REST Framework?

DRF is a toolkit for building Web APIs in Django.

2. Why use DRF?

It simplifies API development with built-in features.

3. What is an API?

Application Programming Interface for communication between systems.

4. What is REST?

Architectural style using HTTP methods.

5. What are HTTP methods?

GET, POST, PUT, PATCH, DELETE.

6. What is JSON?

Data format used in APIs.

7. What is serializer?

Converts complex data into JSON.

8. What is deserialization?

Converts JSON to Python objects.

9. What is ModelSerializer?

Serializer based on models.

10. What is validation in serializer?

Ensures correct data.

11. What is APIView?

Base class for API views.

12. What is GenericAPIView?

Provides common functionality.

13. What is ViewSet?

Combines multiple views.

14. What is ModelViewSet?

CRUD operations automatically.

15. What is router?

Automatically generates URLs.

16. What is DefaultRouter?

Standard router with features.

17. What is SimpleRouter?

Basic router.

18. What is queryset?

Data fetched from database.

19. What is permission?

Access control.

20. What is authentication?

User verification.

21. What is TokenAuthentication?

Uses token for auth.

22. What is SessionAuthentication?

Uses session.

23. What is BasicAuthentication?

Username-password auth.

24. What is IsAuthenticated?

Allows logged users.

25. What is AllowAny?

No restriction.

26. What is IsAdminUser?

Admin access only.

27. What is custom permission?

User-defined access rules.

28. What is throttling?

Limits API requests.

29. What is rate limiting?

Controls usage frequency.

30. What is pagination?

Splits results into pages.

31. What is PageNumberPagination?

Pagination by page number.

32. What is LimitOffsetPagination?

Limit and offset.

33. What is CursorPagination?

Efficient large data pagination.

34. What is filtering?

Restricting data.

35. What is search filter?

Search data.

36. What is ordering filter?

Sort data.

37. What is django-filter?

Advanced filtering.

38. What is API versioning?

Managing API versions.

39. What is URL versioning?

Version in URL.

40. What is header versioning?

Version in headers.

41. What is serializer field?

Defines data structure.

42. What is read_only field?

Cannot be modified.

43. What is write_only field?

Only for input.

44. What is nested serializer?

Serializer inside another.

45. What is depth?

Controls nested level.

46. What is create() method?

Creates object.

47. What is update() method?

Updates object.

48. What is validate()?

Custom validation.

49. What is validate_field?

Field validation.

50. What is SerializerMethodField?

Custom field logic.

51. What is Response?

Returns API response.

52. What is status codes?

HTTP response codes.

53. What is 200 OK?

Success.

54. What is 201 Created?

Resource created.

55. What is 400 Bad Request?

Invalid request.

56. What is 401 Unauthorized?

Auth required.

57. What is 403 Forbidden?

Access denied.

58. What is 404 Not Found?

Resource missing.

59. What is 500 error?

Server error.

60. What is exception handling?

Handling errors.

61. What is API testing?

Testing endpoints.

62. What is Postman?

API testing tool.

63. What is curl?

Command-line API tool.

64. What is browsable API?

DRF web interface.

65. What is API documentation?

Describes API usage.

66. What is Swagger?

API documentation tool.

67. What is OpenAPI?

API specification.

68. What is CORS?

Cross-origin requests.

69. What is CSRF in API?

Security token.

70. What is JSON Web Token (JWT)?

Token-based authentication.

71. What is djangorestframework-simplejwt?

JWT library.

72. What is refresh token?

Generates new token.

73. What is access token?

Short-lived token.

74. What is API security?

Protecting APIs.

75. What is HTTPS?

Secure communication.

76. What is input validation?

Validating request data.

77. What is output formatting?

Formatting response.

78. What is API performance?

Optimizing speed.

79. What is caching in DRF?

Store responses.

80. What is throttling class?

Custom rate limits.

81. What is custom serializer?

User-defined serializer.

82. What is custom viewset?

Custom logic viewset.

83. What is mixin in DRF?

Reusable functionality.

84. What is ListModelMixin?

List objects.

85. What is CreateModelMixin?

Create objects.

86. What is UpdateModelMixin?

Update objects.

87. What is DestroyModelMixin?

Delete objects.

88. What is RetrieveModelMixin?

Get single object.

89. What is API scalability?

Handle large users.

90. What is API maintainability?

Easy updates.

91. What is microservices?

Small independent services.

92. What is monolithic API?

Single large API.

93. What is API gateway?

Entry point.

94. What is load balancing?

Distribute traffic.

95. What is logging?

Track API usage.

96. What is monitoring?

Track performance.

97. What is CI/CD?

Automated deployment.

98. What is Docker in API?

Containerization.

99. What is best practice in DRF?

Use serializers, permissions, and validation.

100. How to optimize DRF APIs?

Use caching, pagination, indexing, and efficient queries.