User model overview in Django - Step-by-Step Execution

Concept Flow - User model overview

Define User Model

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Add Fields: username, email, password

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Set Authentication Methods

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Create User Instances

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Use User in Views & Templates

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Authenticate & Authorize Users

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Manage User Data & Permissions

This flow shows how Django's User model is defined, used to create users, and integrated for authentication and permissions.

Execution Sample

Django

from django.contrib.auth.models import User

user = User.objects.create_user('alice', '[e-mail]', 'pass123')
print(user.username)
print(user.email)

This code creates a new user named 'alice' and prints her username and email.

Execution Table

Step	Action	Evaluation	Result
1	Import User model	User model available	User class ready to use
2	Create user with username 'alice', email, password	User.objects.create_user(...) called	User instance created with username='alice'
3	Print user.username	user.username evaluated	'alice' printed
4	Print user.email	user.email evaluated	'[e-mail]' printed
5	End of script	No more actions	Execution stops

💡 Script ends after printing username and email

Variable Tracker

Variable	Start	After Step 2	After Step 3	After Step 4	Final
user	undefined	User instance with username='alice', email='[e-mail]'	Same User instance	Same User instance	Same User instance

Key Moments - 2 Insights

Why do we use create_user instead of just User()?

create_user handles password hashing and user setup properly, as shown in step 2 of the execution_table.

What happens if we print user.password directly?

The password is stored hashed, so printing user.password shows a hash, not the original password. This is why we use authentication methods instead.

Visual Quiz - 3 Questions

Look at the execution_table, what is the value of user.username after step 2?

A '[e-mail]'

B 'alice'

C None

D Error

💡 Hint

Check the 'Result' column in row for step 2 in execution_table

At which step does the user instance get created?

A Step 2

B Step 1

C Step 3

D Step 4

💡 Hint

Look at the 'Action' and 'Result' columns in execution_table rows

If we change the username to 'bob' in create_user, what changes in variable_tracker?

A user.password is printed in plain text

B user.email becomes '[e-mail]'

C user.username becomes 'bob' after step 2

D No change in user.username

💡 Hint

Refer to variable_tracker row for 'user' and how username changes after step 2

Concept Snapshot

Django User model overview:
- Use django.contrib.auth.models.User
- Create users with create_user(username, email, password)
- Passwords are hashed automatically
- Access user.username and user.email directly
- Use User for authentication and permissions

Full Transcript

This visual execution trace shows how Django's User model works. First, the User model is imported. Then, a user named 'alice' is created using create_user, which safely handles password hashing. The username and email are printed, showing 'alice' and '[e-mail]'. The variable 'user' holds the User instance throughout. Key points include using create_user to avoid storing plain passwords and accessing user fields directly. The quiz checks understanding of user creation and variable values.