Django REST API Roadmap (For eCommerce)
Week 1 – Setup & Fundamentals
• Install Django & Django REST Framework (DRF)
• Understand Django project vs app structure
• Configure settings.py for REST API
• Learn Django Models & ORM (very important)
• Create User model (or use Django’s AbstractUser for customization)
• Understand how urls.py works for API routes
Week 2 – API Basics
• Learn Serializers in DRF (convert models ↔ JSON)
• Build Basic CRUD endpoints: Products, Categories
• Learn Viewsets & Routers
• Test API with Postman or DRF Browsable API
Week 3 – Authentication & Authorization
• Implement User Registration & Login
• Learn JWT Authentication with djangorestframework-simplejwt
• Add permissions (e.g., only admins can add products)
• Secure endpoints
Week 4 – eCommerce Features
• Cart API (add/remove products)
• Order API (checkout)
• Handle stock updates after purchase
• Learn how to use signals (e.g., update stock after order)
Week 5 – Advanced & Deployment
• Search & Filtering (with django-filter)
• Pagination for product listings
• Image upload (use Cloudinary or local storage)
• Prepare API for frontend integration
• Deploy API (Render, Railway, or Heroku)
Extra Skills to Learn Alongside
• Django ORM deeply (queries, relationships)
• Environment variables with python-decouple
• CORS handling for React (django-cors-headers)
• Testing APIs with Django’s TestCase or Postman
