Serialization and Deserialization

Serialization is the process of converting complex objects or data structures, like Django model objects, into a format that can be easily sent or stored. In the context of Django Rest Framework (DRF), serialization is often used to transform data from a database into a format that can be sent over the network (like JSON) or displayed as a webpage.

How does it work?

In DRF, you define serializers that describe how your data should be transformed. For instance, if you have a Product model and want to convert it to JSON, you use a serializer that specifies which fields from the model should be included, how they should be formatted, and so on. You then call this serializer to convert your objects into the desired format.

Deserialization

Deserialization is the process of converting data from a serialized format, such as JSON, back into complex objects or data structures, such as Django model objects. In the context of Django Rest Framework (DRF), deserialization is commonly used to take incoming data, often in JSON format from an API request, and convert it into Python objects that can be processed or stored in a database.