User model overview in Django - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ component_behavior

intermediate

What is the default field used for user identification in Django's built-in User model?

Django's built-in User model uses a specific field as the unique identifier for users. Which field is it?

A username

B id

C email

D first_name

💡 Hint

Think about what users usually type to log in by default.

The default User model in Django uses the username field as the unique identifier for authentication.

❓ state_output

intermediate

What is the output of accessing the 'is_staff' attribute on a newly created Django User instance?

Consider this code:

from django.contrib.auth.models import User
user = User.objects.create_user('alice', '[e-mail]', 'password123')
print(user.is_staff)

What will be printed?

Django

from django.contrib.auth.models import User
user = User.objects.create_user('alice', '[e-mail]', 'password123')
print(user.is_staff)

A False

B True

C None

D Raises AttributeError

💡 Hint

By default, regular users are not staff members.

By default, is_staff is set to False for users created with create_user.

📝 Syntax

advanced

Which code snippet correctly creates a custom user model inheriting from AbstractBaseUser?

You want to create a custom user model in Django by inheriting from AbstractBaseUser. Which snippet is syntactically correct?

A

class CustomUser(AbstractBaseUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    def __str__(self):
        return email

B

class CustomUser(AbstractBaseUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    def __str__(self):
        return self.email()

C

class CustomUser(AbstractBaseUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    USERNAME_FIELD = email
    def __str__(self):
        return self.email

D

class CustomUser(AbstractBaseUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    def __str__(self):
        return self.email

💡 Hint

Remember USERNAME_FIELD must be a string naming the field, and __str__ should return a string attribute.

Option D correctly sets USERNAME_FIELD as a string and returns self.email (an attribute) in __str__.

Option D misses quotes around 'email'.

Option D returns email which is undefined in the method scope.

Option D calls self.email() as a method, but it's a field.

🔧 Debug

advanced

What error occurs when trying to create a user without specifying USERNAME_FIELD in a custom user model?

Given a custom user model inheriting AbstractBaseUser but missing the USERNAME_FIELD attribute, what error will Django raise when creating a user?

A AttributeError: 'CustomUser' object has no attribute 'username'

B ValueError: The USERNAME_FIELD attribute must be set on the user model

C TypeError: create_user() missing 1 required positional argument

D OperationalError: no such column: username

💡 Hint

Django requires a field to identify users uniquely.

Django raises a ValueError if USERNAME_FIELD is not set in a custom user model.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Which statement best describes the difference between AbstractUser and AbstractBaseUser in Django?

Choose the most accurate description of how AbstractUser and AbstractBaseUser differ in Django's user model system.

A AbstractUser is used only for admin users, AbstractBaseUser is for regular users.

B AbstractBaseUser includes all default fields and methods, while AbstractUser requires you to add username and password fields manually.

C AbstractUser provides a full User model with fields and methods, while AbstractBaseUser provides only core authentication features requiring full customization.

D AbstractUser and AbstractBaseUser are identical and interchangeable.

💡 Hint

Think about how much you need to build yourself with each base class.

AbstractUser is a full user model with username, email, and other fields already defined. You can extend it easily.

AbstractBaseUser provides only the core authentication features like password and last login, so you must define all other fields and methods yourself.