path function for routes in Django - Mini Project: Build & Apply

Using the path function for routes in Django

📖 Scenario: You are building a simple Django web application for a bookstore. You want to set up URL routes so users can visit different pages like the homepage, a books list, and a contact page.

🎯 Goal: Learn how to use Django's path function to create URL routes that connect URLs to view functions.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a list called urlpatterns to hold URL patterns

Use the path function to define routes

Map the route '' (empty string) to a view function named home_view

Map the route 'books/' to a view function named books_view

Map the route 'contact/' to a view function named contact_view

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Setting up URL routes is essential in Django web apps to connect URLs to the code that handles requests.

💼 Career

Understanding Django routing is a key skill for backend web developers working with Python and Django frameworks.

1

Create the initial URL patterns list

Create an empty list called urlpatterns to hold your URL routes.

Django

# Create an empty list called urlpatterns
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Think of urlpatterns as a list where you will add your routes.

2

Import the path function

Import the path function from django.urls to use for defining routes.

Django

urlpatterns = []
# Import the path function from django.urls
# Your code here

Need a hint?

You need to import path before using it to define routes.

3

Add routes using the path function

Add three routes to urlpatterns using the path function: '' mapped to home_view, 'books/' mapped to books_view, and 'contact/' mapped to contact_view.

Django

from django.urls import path

urlpatterns = [
    # Add path for '' to home_view
    # Add path for 'books/' to books_view
    # Add path for 'contact/' to contact_view
    # Your code here
]

Need a hint?

Use path(route, view_function) to add each route.

4

Complete with view function placeholders

Define simple placeholder view functions named home_view, books_view, and contact_view that accept a request parameter. These functions can just return None for now.

Django

from django.urls import path

urlpatterns = [
    path('', home_view),
    path('books/', books_view),
    path('contact/', contact_view),
]

# Define placeholder view functions
# Your code here

Need a hint?

Each view function needs to accept request even if it does nothing yet.