Django Model Patterns

Core Philosophy: Fat Models, Thin Views

Business logic belongs in models and managers, not views. Views orchestrate workflows; models implement domain behavior. This principle creates testable, reusable code that stays maintainable as complexity grows.

Good: Model methods handle business rules, state transitions, validation Bad: Views contain if/else logic for domain rules, calculate derived values

Model Design

Structure Your Models Around Domain Concepts

• Use TextChoices/IntegerChoices for status fields and enums
• Add get_absolute_url() for canonical object URLs
• Include __str__() for readable representations
• Set proper ordering in Meta for consistent default sorting
• Add database indexes for frequently filtered/sorted fields
• Use abstract base models for shared fields (timestamps, soft deletes, etc.)