APIView for custom endpoints in Django - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

❓ component_behavior

intermediate

What is the output of this APIView GET method?

Consider this Django REST Framework APIView code. What will be the JSON response when a GET request is made?

Django

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response

class HelloView(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        return Response({"message": "Hello, world!"})

A {"message": "Hello, world!"}

B {"error": "Method not allowed"}

C HTTP 404 Not Found

D HTTP 500 Internal Server Error

💡 Hint

Look at the return value inside the get method.

The get method returns a Response with a dictionary containing the message key. This results in a JSON response with {"message": "Hello, world!"}.

📝 Syntax

intermediate

Which option correctly defines a POST method in APIView?

You want to add a POST method to this APIView that returns the posted data back. Which code snippet is correct?

Django

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response

class EchoView(APIView):
    # Add POST method here

A

def post(self):
    return Response(request.data)

B

def post(self, request):
    return Response(request.data)

C

def post(request):
    return Response(request.data)

D

def post(self, request):
    return request.data

💡 Hint

Remember the method signature for APIView methods includes self and request.

Option B correctly defines the post method with self and request parameters and returns a Response wrapping request.data. Other options have wrong signatures or missing Response wrapper.

❓ state_output

advanced

What is the response status code of this APIView method?

Given this APIView code, what status code will the response have when a DELETE request is made?

Django

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework import status

class ItemView(APIView):
    def delete(self, request):
        # pretend to delete an item
        return Response({"detail": "Deleted"}, status=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT)

A 500

B 200

C 404

D 204

💡 Hint

Look at the status parameter in the Response.

The Response explicitly sets status=status.HTTP_204_NO_CONTENT, which corresponds to HTTP status code 204.

🔧 Debug

advanced

Why does this APIView raise an error on GET?

This APIView raises an error when a GET request is made. What is the cause?

Django

from rest_framework.views import APIView
from rest_framework.response import Response

class FaultyView(APIView):
    def get(self):
        return Response({"msg": "Hi"})

A Missing 'request' parameter in get method

B Response is not imported

C Return value is not a dictionary

D APIView requires a post method

💡 Hint

Check the method signature for APIView methods.

APIView methods must accept self and request parameters. Missing request causes a TypeError when called.

🧠 Conceptual

expert

Which option correctly restricts APIView to only allow GET and POST methods?

You want an APIView that only accepts GET and POST requests and returns 405 Method Not Allowed for others. Which code snippet achieves this?

A

class MyView(APIView):
    def get(self, request):
        return Response({'msg': 'GET'})
    def post(self, request):
        return Response({'msg': 'POST'})
    def delete(self, request):
        return Response(status=405)

B

class MyView(APIView):
    allowed_methods = ['GET', 'POST']
    def get(self, request):
        return Response({'msg': 'GET'})
    def post(self, request):
        return Response({'msg': 'POST'})

C

class MyView(APIView):
    http_method_names = ['get', 'post']
    def get(self, request):
        return Response({'msg': 'GET'})
    def post(self, request):
        return Response({'msg': 'POST'})

D

class MyView(APIView):
    def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        if request.method not in ['GET', 'POST']:
            return Response(status=405)
        return super().dispatch(request, *args, **kwargs)

💡 Hint

Check the APIView attribute that controls allowed HTTP methods.

Setting http_method_names to ['get', 'post'] restricts the view to only those methods. Other options either use wrong attribute names or manually handle methods less cleanly.