Django Views

Django Views Explained

Views are functions (or classes) that determine what response a user receives when they visit a page on your site. They serve as the bridge between browser requests and what’s displayed.

What Does a View Do?

When a user goes to a specific URL, Django checks the routing system and hands the request over to a view. That view then:

• Processes the request
• Collects or creates data
• Decides on the response
• Sends that result back to the browser

Basic View Example

Here’s a simple example using a function:

from django.http import HttpResponse  

def welcome(request):     
      Return HttpResponse("Hello there! This is your homepage.") 

• request is the input from the user’s browser
• The response delivers a simple text message directly to the user's browser.

Location of Views

Typically, each app includes a views.py file where the response-handling functions are defined.

Sending HTML Pages

Instead of raw text, you can load an HTML file using Django’s rendering tool:

from django.shortcuts import render  

def home(request):     
     Return render(request, 'home/index.html') 

• render() connects the request to a specific HTML template
• 'home/index.html' is the location of the layout file

Sending Context Data

Templates receive data through key-value pairs passed in as context from the view.

def contact(request):     
     Return render(request, 'home/contact.html', {'email': 'support@example.com'}) 

Then in your HTML, use:

<p>Contact us at {{ email }}</p>

Class-Based Views

Besides functions, Django also supports class-style views for better structure and reuse.

Example:

from django.views import View 
from django.http import HttpResponse  

class HelloView(View):     
      def get(self, request):         
          Return HttpResponse("Hi! You're viewing a class-based page.")

Choosing Between Function or Class

• Use functions for short, quick responses
• Pick classes for reusable or complex logic (e.g., login forms, permissions, etc.)

Attaching a View to a URL

You connect your view to a route inside urls.py:

from django.urls import path 
from . import views  

urlpatterns = [     
      path('', views.welcome),     
      path('contact/', views.contact), 
] 

Summary

• Views respond to browser activity
• They can return text or full HTML pages
• You can use either function-style or class-style approaches
• Views live inside each app’s views.py