Equivalent of get_or_create for adding users

Question

Is there a simpler way to add a user than with the following pattern?

    try:         new_user = User.objects.create_user(username, email, password)     except IntegrityError:         messages.info(request, "This user already exists.")     else:         new_user.first_name = first_name         # continue with other things 

Answer 1

In Django 1.4, get_or_create() exists for User.

from django.contrib.auth.models import User  _user = User.objects.get_or_create(         username=u'bob',         password=u'bobspassword',     ) 

Answer 2

It is better not to catch IntegrityError as it can happen for other reasons. You need to check if user exists, excluding the password. If user already exists, set the password.

user, created = User.objects.get_or_create(username=username, email=email) if created:     user.set_password(password)     user.save()