Django Interview Questions and Answers

Django is an open-source, high-level Python web framework that simplifies building secure, scalable, and maintainable web applications. It is widely used by companies like Instagram, Mozilla, Netflix, Amazon, and PBS.

Key features of Django:

• Model-View-Template or MVT Architecture: Separates business logic, UI, and data handling.
• Rapid Development: Automates repetitive tasks to speed up development.
• Security Features: Protects against SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, and more.
• Scalability: Handles high traffic applications efficiently.
• Rich Ecosystem: Includes ORM, authentication, admin panel, and third-party libraries.

Basic Django Interview Questions & Answers

Q 1.  How does Django work?

Django follows the Model-View-Template (MVT) architecture to handle web requests:

1. Client Request: A user sends a request to the Django server (via browser or API call).
2. URL Routing: Django’s urls.py maps the request to the appropriate view.
3. View Processing: The view receives the request, interacts with models or external APIs, and processes data.
4. Model Interaction: Models (via Django ORM) retrieve, update, or delete data from the database.
5. Template Rendering: The view passes data to a template, which generates HTML dynamically.
6. Response: Django sends the rendered HTML or JSON response back to the client.

Q 2. What are the Features of using Django?

Django comes with several built-in features that make web development faster and more efficient:

• Object-Relational Mapper (ORM): Simplifies database operations with Python objects.
• Web Templating System: Dynamically generates HTML content.
• Middleware Support: Handles request/response processing globally.
• URL Dispatcher: Uses clean, regex-based (and now path-based) routing.
• Admin Interface: Auto-generated admin panel for managing data.
• Unit Testing Framework: Built-in tools for testing applications.
• SEO Optimized: Supports human-readable URLs and metadata handling.
• Security Features: Protection against CSRF, XSS, SQL Injection, etc.
• Code Reusability & Inheritance: Encourages modular, maintainable apps.
• Flexible Deployment: Compatible with multiple databases and server setups.

Q3. What is the difference between Flask and Django?

Q 4. Explain the Django project directory structure.

When you create a new Django project, it generates a set of files and folders to organize your application. Each file has a specific role:

• manage.py: A command-line utility to run the server, create migrations, and manage the project.
• __init__.py: Marks the directory as a Python package.
• settings.py: Stores configuration like installed apps, middleware, database settings, and API keys.
• urls.py: Defines URL patterns and maps them to views.
• wsgi.py: Entry point for deploying the project; helps web servers communicate with Django.
• apps.py: Configuration file for an individual app.
• admin.py: Registers models to be managed through the Django admin panel.
• models.py: Defines the database structure using Python classes.
• views.py: Contains the logic to handle requests and return responses (part of each app, not the main project).

Q 5. What is the purpose of Django apps?

Django apps exist to make projects organized, reusable, and scalable. Instead of writing everything in one place, Django encourages breaking functionality into independent apps.

• Each app focuses on a specific feature or functionality (e.g., blog, authentication, payments).
• Apps are reusable across different projects without rewriting code.
• They improve maintainability, as developers can work on separate apps independently.
• They support scalability, ensuring projects don’t become monolithic and unmanageable.

Q 6. Importance of virtual environment setup for Django.

A virtual environment creates an isolated workspace for a Django project, keeping its dependencies separate from other projects. This prevents version conflicts and makes project management easier.

• Not strictly required, but highly recommended.
• Ensures each project has its own dependencies.
• Eliminates conflicts between different package versions.
• Makes deployment and collaboration smoother.

Q 7. Give a brief about the Django admin interface.

Django provides a built-in admin interface that allows users to manage application data easily. It supports creating, reading, updating, and deleting (CRUD) model objects without writing additional code.

• Automatically generated from registered models.
• Useful for performing administrative tasks.
• Fully customizable through configuration.
• Saves development time with a ready-to-use backend.

Q 9. What are Django URLs?

In Django, URLs define the routing of a web application. They are managed in a urls.py file, which maps URL patterns to specific view functions or classes.

• When a user enters a URL in the browser, Django matches it against the patterns in urls.py.
• If a match is found, the corresponding view is executed and returns a response.
• This makes navigation and request handling organized and modular.

Q 9. What are the views of Django?

In Django’s MVT architecture, a view is a function or class that takes a web request and returns a web response.

• The response can be an HTML page, JSON data, XML, a PDF, or even an image.
• Views act as the connection between models and templates, processing data and rendering it to the user.
• They handle business logic and decide what content should be displayed to the client.

Q 10. What are the models in Django?

In Django, a model is a built-in feature that defines the structure and behavior of the data in the application.

• Each model is represented as a Python class and typically maps to a single database table.
• It defines fields, relationships, and constraints for storing and managing data.
• Django’s Object-Relational Mapper (ORM) automatically translates model classes into SQL queries, so developers can interact with the database using Python instead of raw SQL.

Q11. What do the commands python manage.py makemigrations and python manage.py migrate do?

• makemigrations: Scans the models in your app and creates migration files based on any changes. These files contain SQL instructions but do not apply them yet.
• migrate: Applies the SQL instructions from the migration files to the database, creating or updating tables as required.

Q 12. What are the sessions?

Sessions in Django are used to store and manage data for individual users across multiple requests. Unlike cookies, session data is stored on the server side, and only the session ID is sent to the client. The session ends when the user logs out or closes the browser. One of the main advantages of sessions is that the data is stored in an encrypted and secure format, ensuring privacy and security.

Q 13. Define static files and explain their uses.

Static files are used to save files such as CSS, JavaScript, pictures, and other types of static files. We keep them in distinct folders, for as the js folder, which has all of the JavaScript files, and the images folder, which contains all of the images. These files are kept in the static subfolder of the project app. Django provides django.contrib.staticfiles which helps us to manage static files. There are different uses for static files:

• It clarifies the use of file methods and attributes.
• It is platform-independent in many ways, whereas generic files are not.
• Subclasses can be used to extend it.

Q 14. What are templates in the Django language?

A Django template is a text document that is used to give a front and a layout for our website. It is the third and most significant aspect of Django's MVT Structure. In Django, a template is an HTML file that contains HTML, CSS, and Javascript. The Django framework efficiently manages and generates dynamically generated HTML web pages for end-user viewing. Django is mostly a backend framework, thus we use templates to give a layout for our website. There are two ways to incorporate the template into our website.

• We can utilize a single template directory that will be distributed throughout the project.
• We can make a separate template directory for each app in our project.

Q 15. What are QuerySets in Django?

A QuerySet in Django represents a collection of database queries used to retrieve, filter, and manipulate model objects. It provides a high-level, Pythonic API to interact with the database.

Key points:

• Lazy evaluation: A QuerySet is not executed until the data is actually needed (e.g., iteration, slicing, or conversion).
• Filtering and chaining: Methods like .filter(), .exclude(), .order_by() can be combined to build complex queries.
• Model instances: Results are returned as objects of the corresponding model.
• Reusable and flexible: The same QuerySet can be refined further without hitting the database multiple times.

Example:

# Retrieve all active users users = User.objects.filter(is_active=True) 

Q 16. What is the difference between get() and filter() in Django ORM?

• get(): Returns a single object that matches the query. Raises DoesNotExist or MultipleObjectsReturned if results don’t match exactly one.
• filter(): Returns a QuerySet (list-like) of all matching records.

Q 17. What is the difference between null=True and blank=True in Django models?

• null=True: Database-level; allows storing NULL in the column.
• blank=True: Validation-level; allows the field to be left empty in forms.
• Often used together for optional fields.

Q 18. What is the difference between ForeignKey, OneToOneField, and ManyToManyField in Django models?

• ForeignKey: Defines a one-to-many relationship.
• OneToOneField: Defines a one-to-one relationship.
• ManyToManyField: Defines a many-to-many relationship.

Q 19. What does the settings.py file do?

settings.py is the core configuration file of a Django project. It defines essential settings such as:

• Database configuration
• Static and media file paths
• Installed apps and middleware
• Security keys and API keys
• Logging and other environment-specific options
• It ensures Django knows how the project should run across different environments.

Q 20. Difference between MVC and MVT design patterns?

Intermediate Django Interview Questions & Answers

Q 21. What is Django ORM?

Django ORM (Object Relational Mapper) lets you interact with the database using Python instead of SQL. It maps Python classes to database tables and makes CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) simple.

Example Model:

from django.db import models class Student(models.Model): name = models.CharField(max_length=100) age = models.IntegerField() 

Here:

• Student - represents a table in the database.
• name and age - represent columns in that table.

Using ORM in the Django shell :

from myapp.models import Student # Create Student.objects.create(name="Rahul", age=22) # Read Student.objects.all() # Update student = Student.objects.get(name="Rahul") student.age = 23 student.save() # Delete student.delete() 

Q 22. What is Superuser?

A Superuser in Django is the most powerful user account that has full permissions in the Django Admin interface. Superusers can:

• Create, read, update, and delete any model records.
• Manage other users, including adding staff or assigning permissions.
• Access all sections of the Django Admin panel without restriction.

Q 23. What is Jinja templating?

Jinja (specifically Jinja2) is a popular templating engine for Python, used to generate dynamic HTML, XML, or other markup. Although Django has its own default templating engine, developers can configure Django to use Jinja2 as an alternative.

Key Features of Jinja2:

• HTML Escaping: Prevents XSS by automatically escaping special characters like <, >, &.
• Sandbox Execution: Allows secure template testing in a protected environment.
• Template Inheritance: Enables reusability and cleaner template structures.
• Performance: Faster than Django’s default engine.
• Debugging: Easier error tracking compared to the default engine.

Q 24. What do you mean by the csrf_token?

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) is one of the most serious vulnerabilities, and it can be used to do everything from changing a user's information without their knowledge to obtaining full control of their account. To prevent malicious attacks, Django provides a per cent token per cent tag {% csrf_token %} that is implemented within the form. When generating the page on the server, it generates a token and ensures that any requests coming back in are cross-checked against this token. The token is not included in the inbound requests, thus they are not executed.

Q 25. Explain the use of Middlewares in Django.

Middleware is a lightweight framework that processes requests and responses globally before they reach the view or after the response leaves the view. Middleware is used to perform tasks such as security, session management, authentication, and CSRF protection.

Examples:

• AuthenticationMiddleware: Associates users with requests using sessions.
• CsrfViewMiddleware: Protects against Cross-Site Request Forgery.
• SessionMiddleware: Manages sessions across requests.
• SecurityMiddleware: Provides headers and security improvements.

Q 26. What are signals?

Signals allow certain senders to notify a set of receivers when specific actions occur. They are used to trigger custom behavior in response to events such as creating, updating, or deleting a database entry. For example, when a new user is created, a signal can be used to automatically create a corresponding profile. Common Types of Signals:

• pre_delete / post_delete: Triggered before or after deleting a model instance.
• pre_init / post_init: Triggered before or after instantiating a model (__init__() method).
• pre_save / post_save: Triggered before or after saving a model instance.

Q 27. What is Media Root?

Media Root is the directory where user-uploaded files (media files) are stored. These include images, videos, documents, or any content uploaded by users.

• MEDIA_ROOT: Defines the absolute file system path on the server where uploaded files are saved.
• MEDIA_URL: Defines the public URL through which these files can be accessed in the browser.

Example configuration in settings.py:

MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'media') MEDIA_URL = '/media/' 

This setup ensures:

• Uploaded files are stored in the media/ directory inside the project.
• Files are accessible via a URL (e.g., /media/profile.jpg).

Q 28. What are context processors in Django and how are they used?

A context processor in Django is a function that injects extra variables into the template context, making them available in all templates without needing to pass them explicitly in every view.

• Defined as Python functions that take a request object and return a dictionary of data.
• Commonly used for site-wide data, like the logged-in user, site settings, or notifications.
• Configured in the TEMPLATES setting under OPTIONS > context_processors.
• Example: Django’s built-in django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth automatically adds the user object to every template.

Q 29. What is the difference between function-based views and class-based views in Django?

Q 30. How does Django encourage clean and reusable templates?

Django promotes clean and reusable templates through its template inheritance system and modular structure.

• Template inheritance with {% extends %}: Allows defining a common base template (e.g., base.html) that holds site-wide elements like navigation, header, and footer. Other templates extend it and only override specific blocks.
• Block tags ({% block %}): Enable customization of specific sections without duplicating the entire template.
• Including smaller templates with {% include %}: Helps reuse components such as navbars, forms, or sidebars across multiple pages.
• App-specific template organization: Storing templates inside each app’s directory (e.g., app_name/templates/app_name/) prevents conflicts and keeps templates maintainable.
• Separation of concerns: Business logic stays in views, while templates handle presentation, ensuring clarity and maintainability.

Advanced Django Interview Questions & Answers

Q 31. How do you connect your Django Project to the database?

Django connects to databases through the configuration defined in the settings.py file. By default, Django uses SQLite, but you can configure it for other databases like PostgreSQL, MySQL, or Oracle.

Example:

DATABASES = { 'default': { 'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql', # Database backend 'NAME': 'mydatabase', # Database name 'USER': 'myuser', # Database user 'PASSWORD': 'mypassword', # Database password 'HOST': 'localhost', # Database host (IP or domain) 'PORT': '5432', # Database port } } 

In the configuration:

• ENGINE: specifies the database backend (e.g., sqlite3, postgresql, mysql, oracle).
• NAME, USER, PASSWORD: credentials for the database.
• HOST, PORT: connection details.

Q 31. Explain the caching strategies of Django. ?

Django has its own inbuilt caching system that allows us to store our dynamic pages. So that we don't have to request them again when we need them. The advantage of the Django Cache framework is that it allows us to cache data such as templates or the entire site. Django provides four different types of caching options, they are:

• per-site cache: It is the most straightforward to set up and caches your entire website.
• per-view cache: Individual views can be cached using the per-view cache.
• Template fragment caching: allows you to cache only a portion of a template.
• low-level cache API: It can manually set, retrieve, and maintain particular objects in the cache using the low-level cache API.

Q 33. Give the exception classes present in Django.

An exception is a rare occurrence that causes a program to fail. Django has its own exception classes to cope with this circumstance, and it also supports all fundamental Python exceptions. some of the exception classes are listed below:

• MultipleObjectsReturned: If just one item is anticipated but many objects are returned, this error is thrown by the query.
• ViewDoesNotExist: When a requested view does not exist, Django.URLs raise this exception.
• PermissionDenied: It's triggered when a user doesn't have the necessary permissions to perform the requested activity.
• SuspiciousOperation: The query throws this error if only one item is expected but several things are returned.
• ValidationError: It's triggered when data validation fails on a form or a model field.
• FieldDoesNotExist: It raises when the requested field does not exist.
• ObjectDoesNotExist: The base class for DoesNotExist exceptions.
• AppRegistryNotReady: It is raised when attempting to use models before the app loading process.
• EmptyResultSet: If a query does not return any result, this exception is raised.

Q 34. What is No SQL and Does Django support NoSQL?

NoSql is also known as a non-relational database that stores data in a form of non-tabular, instead it stores data in the form of a storage model that is optimized for specific requirements of the type of data being stored. The types of NoSQL databases include pure documented databases, graph databases, wide column databases, and a key-value store. 
No, Django does not officially support no-SQL databases such as CouchDB, Redis, Neo4j, MongoDB, etc. 

Q 35. What are the different model inheritance styles in Django?

Django supports 3 types of inheritance. They are

• Abstract base classes
• Multi-table Inheritance
• Proxy models

Q 36. What is the purpose of the Meta class inside a Django model?

The Meta class in a Django model is used to configure model-level options that change the behavior of the model without altering the fields themselves.

Key points:

• Define database table name using db_table.
• Set ordering of query results with ordering.
• Control verbose names for the model and its fields (verbose_name, verbose_name_plural).
• Apply unique constraints or permissions.
• Mark a model as abstract so it can be inherited but not created as a table.

Example:

class Book(models.Model): title = models.CharField(max_length=100) author = models.CharField(max_length=100) class Meta: db_table = "library_books" ordering = ["title"] verbose_name = "Book" verbose_name_plural = "Books" 

In this example:

• The model will be saved in a table named library_books instead of the default appname_book.
• Query results will be ordered by title automatically.
• In the admin, the model will appear as “Book” (singular) and “Books” (plural).

Q 37. How do you exclude records that match a condition in Django ORM?

In Django ORM, the .exclude() method is used to filter out records that match a given condition. It works opposite to .filter().

Key points:

• .filter() → returns records matching the condition.
• .exclude() → returns records not matching the condition.
• Both can be chained with other query methods.

Example:

# Get all users except inactive ones users = User.objects.exclude(is_active=False) # Get all books except those published in 2025 books = Book.objects.exclude(published_year=2025) 

Q 38. How do you query all items or a single item from a database table in Django ORM?

To query all items:

• Use .all() to fetch every record from a model table.

items = ModelName.objects.all() 

To query a single item:

Use .get() to fetch one specific object that matches a condition.

item = ModelName.objects.get(id=1) 

Q 39. What is Django Rest Framework?

The REST Framework is an HTTP-based standard for listing, generating, modifying, and deleting data on your server. The Django REST framework which is also known as DRF is a powerful and flexible toolkit built on top of the Django web framework that simplifies the creation of REST interfaces by reducing the amount of code required. there are different advantages of using REST Framework like:

• Web browsable API that provides huge usability for developer
• Authentication policy which includes packages for 0auth1 and auth2.
• It supports both ORM and non-ORM data sources.
• It has extensive documentation and great community support.

Q 40. Explain the Django Response lifecycle.

The Django Response lifecycle defines how a client request is processed by Django and how a response is returned. It ensures smooth communication between the client and the server.

Step-by-step flow:

• Client Request: A client (browser or API client) sends an HTTP request to the Django server.
• URL Routing: Django uses the urls.py file to match the incoming request to the appropriate view function or class-based view.
• View Processing: The matched view receives the HttpRequest object as its first argument. The view handles business logic such as querying the database, applying rules, or rendering templates.
• Response Generation: The view must return an HttpResponse object. The response can include HTML, JSON, files, or any content type.
• Middleware Involvement: Before reaching the view and after leaving it, middleware components can modify the request and response such as for authentication, caching, or session handling.
• Client Receives Response: The final HttpResponse is sent back to the client, which then renders the content in the browser or consumes it in case of API data.

Q 41. How do filter items in the Model?

To filters items present in our database we use a QuerySet. It is a database collection of data that is built up as a list of objects. QuerySet makes our work easy by allowing us to filter and organize the data, it is also easier to retrieve the information that we need with the help of QuerySet. we can filter our data with the help filter() method that allows us to return only the rows that match the search word.

Q 42. What is the difference between CharField and TextField in Django?

Q 43. Give a brief about the settings.py file.

The settings.py file is the central configuration file of a Django project. It contains all the settings that define how the project behaves.

• Stores configurations for databases, middleware, backend engines, and templating engines.
• Lists installed applications and their configurations.
• Defines URLs for static and media files, main URL configurations, and authorized hosts.
• Contains security keys and other critical settings.
• Executed first when a Django project starts, ensuring databases and engines are loaded to serve requests efficiently.

Q 44. What are Django cookies?

Cookies in Django are small pieces of information stored in the client’s browser. They are commonly used to manage sessions, remember user preferences, or track user behavior.

• Use the set_cookie() method to set a cookie in a response.
• Retrieve cookie values using request.COOKIES['key'] or the get() method.
• Cookies can store data such as session IDs, user preferences, or authentication tokens.
• Proper handling of cookies ensures secure and consistent user experiences.

Q 45. How can you implement database sharding in Django for handling large-scale applications?

Database sharding is the practice of splitting a large database into smaller, faster, more manageable parts called shards. Each shard contains a subset of the total data. Django does not provide built-in sharding support, but it can be implemented with custom configurations.

Ways to implement sharding in Django:

• Multiple Database Configuration: Define multiple databases in settings.py and assign models or queries to specific shards.

DATABASES = { 'default': {...}, # Main database 'shard1': {...}, # Shard 1 'shard2': {...}, # Shard 2 } 

• Database Routers: Write a custom database router to direct queries for specific models or data ranges to the right shard.

class ShardRouter: def db_for_read(self, model, **hints): # Logic to select the correct shard return 'shard1' if condition else 'shard2' 

• Third-party Tools: Use libraries such as django-sharding, django-multidb-router, or integrate with external sharding solutions like Vitess or Citus for PostgreSQL.

Q 46. Why is Django called a loosely coupled framework?

Django is called a loosely coupled framework because of its Model-Template-View architecture.

• The Model handles data and database interactions.
• The Template manages the presentation layer, controlling what is sent to the client.
• The View contains the business logic and connects models to templates.
• Each component is independent, allowing changes in one part without affecting others.
• This separation makes Django applications modular, maintainable, and easier to extend.

Q 47. Explain Django Security.

Security is a critical aspect of web development, and Django provides built-in protection against common threats to safeguard user data.

• Cross-site scripting (XSS) protection: Prevents malicious scripts from being executed in browsers.
• SQL injection protection: Safeguards the database from harmful queries.
• Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) protection: Ensures that form submissions are from trusted sources.
• Enforcing SSL/HTTPS: Secures data transmission over the network.
• Session security: Protects user sessions from hijacking or tampering.
• Clickjacking protection: Prevents malicious UI overlays from tricking users into unintended actions.
• Host header validation: Ensures that requests come from allowed hosts only.

Q 48. Explain user authentication in Django

Django provides a built-in authentication system to manage users, groups, permissions, and more. Its core is the User object, which handles both authentication and authorization.

• Users: Represent individuals who can log in to the system.
• Permissions: Control what actions users can perform.
• Groups: Allow grouping of users with shared permissions.
• Password Hashing System: Secures user passwords.
• Forms Validation: Ensures secure and valid user input.
• Pluggable Backend System: Supports custom authentication methods or integration with third-party systems.

Q 49. What is the "Django.shortcuts.render" function?

The render() function is a Django shortcut used when a view needs to return an HTML response instead of plain text. It combines a template with a context dictionary and automatically returns an HttpResponse object.

Example:

def home(request): context = {'title': 'Home Page', 'message': 'Welcome to Django'} return render(request, 'home.html', context) 

In this example:

• The request object.
• The template file (home.html).
• A context dictionary containing data (title and message).

Q 50. What is serialization in Django?

Serialization in Django, especially using the Django REST Framework, converts complex Python objects like models or querysets into simple data formats, usually JSON or XML, that front-end applications can understand.

• Serializers handle data transformation from Python objects to client-friendly formats.
• They also enable deserialization, turning incoming data back into Python objects.
• Built-in validation ensures incoming data is correct before saving to the database.
• Serialization is essential for building APIs that communicate seamlessly with front-end frameworks.