Should I write two different serializers for requests POST and GET?

Question

Here is MODEL:

class Device (models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length = 30)
    device_id = models.CharField(max_length = 100, unique = True)
    organization = models.ForeignKey(Organization)

Here is SERIALIZER:

class DeviceSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = Device
        fields = ['id','device_id', 'organization']
    def create(self,validated_data):
        validated_data.__setitem__('name', names.get_full_name())
        return Device.objects.create(**validated_data)

Here is API:

class DeviceAPI(APIView):
    def post(self,request,format=None):
        serializer = DeviceSerializer(data = request.data)
        if serializer.is_valid():
            serializer.save()
            return JSONResponse(serializer.data , status = 201)
        return JSONResponse(serializer.errors, status = 400)
    def get(self,request,format=None):
       # --------------------------------- #
       # ---- WHAT to write here ??? ----- #
       # --------------------------------- #
       return JSONResponse(serializer.data, status = 200)   

I want this:

if method.request == POST:
   pass  # get post data and create new device  // it's work 
if method.request == GET:
   pass  # receive data (device_id) and if it's exists then send it's id

can I do it using only one serializer or I should write second (for one method - one serializer )

Thanks ! ! !

Answer 1

The best way to do this is to have just one serializer but make sure it has proper annotations for which fields are read-only and which fields are read-write.

If you are using a simple ModelSerializer, it will look something like this:

class UserSerializer(serializers.ModelSerializer):
    class Meta:
        model = User
        fields = [ 'username', 'first_name', 'last_name', 'email' ]
        read_only_fields = [ 'username' ]

This creates a serializer that outputs the four fields listed in the fields parameter, but only the last three are editable using the serializer.

Then just use a ModelViewSet (or some other ViewSet) and let the REST Framework build all the methods for you instead of writing them all by hand.

In some cases, you would need a different serializer for user creation (as the user needs a way to select a username when they first create an account)... for that you can use the example at Django REST Framework show multiple forms on HTML view.