Django questions

Django middleware classes are components that process requests and responses globally. Middleware can be used for various tasks such as session management, authentication, or modifying request and response objects. Middleware classes are defined in `MIDDLEWARE` setting and are executed in the order they are listed.

In Django, database transactions are managed using the `transaction` module, which provides the `atomic` decorator or context manager. This ensures that a series of database operations are treated as a single transaction. If an exception occurs, all operations within the atomic block are rolled back, maintaining database integrity.

Django includes a testing framework based on Python's `unittest` module. You write test cases by creating classes that inherit from `django.test.TestCase`. These tests can simulate requests, check responses, and verify the behavior of your application’s components. Run tests using `python manage.py test` to ensure your application works as expected.

Django handles form validation by defining validation logic within forms. You can use built-in validators or create custom validation methods in your form class. Methods like `clean()` and `clean_fieldname()` allow you to add custom validation logic and ensure data integrity before processing the form.

To set up a Django REST API, install Django REST framework (DRF) and add it to your `INSTALLED_APPS`. Define serializers to convert your models to JSON and create viewsets or API views to handle HTTP requests. Finally, configure your URL patterns to route API requests to these views using DRF’s routing classes.