🏗️ Django Models: Building Your Data Kingdom

Imagine you’re designing a city. Every building needs a blueprint—but some buildings follow city rules, some share walls, and some are just ideas for future buildings. Django Models work the same way!

🎯 What Are Model Structure Options?

Think of Django models like LEGO sets. The basic blocks are your fields (name, age, email). But Model Structure Options are the special instructions that tell Django:

• 📋 “What rules should this table follow?” (Meta Options)
• 🔒 “What things must stay unique or fast?” (Constraints & Indexes)
• 👪 “Can models share parts?” (Inheritance)
• 👻 “Can I make invisible blueprint models?” (Abstract Base Classes)

Let’s explore each one like we’re building a kingdom! 🏰

📋 Model Meta Basics

What is Meta?

Meta is like a sticky note on your LEGO box. It tells Django extra instructions about your model—things that aren’t fields.

class Book(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    author = models.CharField(max_length=100)

    class Meta:
        ordering = ['title']  # Sort by title
        verbose_name = 'Library Book'

🎯 Common Meta Options

💡 Real Example

class BlogPost(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    slug = models.SlugField()
    published = models.DateTimeField()

    class Meta:
        ordering = ['-published']
        verbose_name = 'Blog Article'
        verbose_name_plural = 'Blog Articles'
        get_latest_by = 'published'

What happens?

• Posts automatically sort newest first
• Admin shows “Blog Article” instead of “BlogPost”
• BlogPost.objects.latest() returns newest post

🔒 Model Constraints and Indexes

What Are Constraints?

Constraints are rules that your data MUST follow. Like a bouncer at a club checking IDs! 🚪

What Are Indexes?

Indexes make searching faster. Like a book’s index helps you find pages quickly! 📖

graph TD
    A[📊 Your Data] --> B{Need Speed?}
    B -->|Yes| C[🚀 Add Index]
    B -->|No| D[Keep Simple]
    A --> E{Need Rules?}
    E -->|Yes| F[🔒 Add Constraint]
    E -->|No| D

🔧 Types of Constraints

1. UniqueConstraint - No duplicates allowed!

class Student(models.Model):
    email = models.EmailField()
    school = models.CharField(max_length=100)

    class Meta:
        constraints = [
            models.UniqueConstraint(
                fields=['email', 'school'],
                name='unique_student_per_school'
            )
        ]

Same email can exist in different schools, but not twice in the same school!

2. CheckConstraint - Must pass a test!

class Product(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    price = models.DecimalField(max_digits=10, decimal_places=2)
    discount = models.DecimalField(max_digits=5, decimal_places=2)

    class Meta:
        constraints = [
            models.CheckConstraint(
                check=models.Q(price__gte=0),
                name='price_not_negative'
            ),
            models.CheckConstraint(
                check=models.Q(discount__lte=models.F('price')),
                name='discount_lte_price'
            )
        ]

Price can’t be negative! Discount can’t be more than price!

🚀 Adding Indexes

class Article(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    category = models.CharField(max_length=50)
    status = models.CharField(max_length=20)
    created = models.DateTimeField()

    class Meta:
        indexes = [
            models.Index(fields=['category']),
            models.Index(fields=['status', 'created']),
            models.Index(
                fields=['title'],
                name='title_idx'
            ),
        ]

When to add indexes?

• ✅ Fields you search/filter often
• ✅ Fields you sort by
• ✅ Foreign keys (Django adds these automatically)
• ❌ Fields you rarely query

👪 Model Inheritance

Django gives you THREE ways to share code between models. It’s like choosing how family members share DNA! 🧬

graph TD
    A[Model Inheritance] --> B[Abstract Base Class]
    A --> C[Multi-Table Inheritance]
    A --> D[Proxy Models]
    B --> E[👻 No DB table for parent]
    C --> F[📊 Separate tables, linked]
    D --> G[🎭 Same table, new behavior]

Type 1: Abstract Base Classes

Parent has no database table. Children get copies of fields.

class TimeStampedModel(models.Model):
    created = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

    class Meta:
        abstract = True  # ← Magic word!

class Post(TimeStampedModel):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    # Also has: created, updated

class Comment(TimeStampedModel):
    text = models.TextField()
    # Also has: created, updated

Result: Post and Comment tables each have created and updated columns. NO TimeStampedModel table exists!

Type 2: Multi-Table Inheritance

Both parent and child get database tables, linked together.

class Place(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    address = models.CharField(max_length=200)

class Restaurant(Place):
    serves_pizza = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    serves_pasta = models.BooleanField(default=False)

Result:

• Place table: id, name, address
• Restaurant table: place_ptr_id, serves_pizza, serves_pasta
• They’re linked! A Restaurant IS a Place.

Type 3: Proxy Models

Same database table, different Python behavior.

class Person(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    role = models.CharField(max_length=50)

class Manager(Person):
    class Meta:
        proxy = True  # ← Same table as Person!

    def give_bonus(self):
        return f"{self.name} gives bonuses!"

    objects = ManagerQuerySet.as_manager()

Result: No new table. Manager uses Person table but has extra methods!

👻 Abstract Base Classes (Deep Dive)

Why Use Abstract Base Classes?

Imagine you’re building many models. They ALL need:

• created_at timestamp
• updated_at timestamp
• is_active flag

Without ABC:

# Repeating yourself = BAD! 😱
class Post(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)

class Comment(models.Model):
    text = models.TextField()
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)  # Copy-paste!
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)       # Copy-paste!
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)          # Copy-paste!

With ABC:

# DRY = Don't Repeat Yourself! 🎉
class BaseModel(models.Model):
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)

    class Meta:
        abstract = True

class Post(BaseModel):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)

class Comment(BaseModel):
    text = models.TextField()

🌟 Advanced ABC Pattern

class UUIDModel(models.Model):
    """Use UUID instead of auto-increment ID"""
    id = models.UUIDField(
        primary_key=True,
        default=uuid.uuid4,
        editable=False
    )

    class Meta:
        abstract = True

class SoftDeleteModel(models.Model):
    """Soft delete instead of actual delete"""
    is_deleted = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    deleted_at = models.DateTimeField(null=True, blank=True)

    class Meta:
        abstract = True

    def delete(self, *args, **kwargs):
        self.is_deleted = True
        self.deleted_at = timezone.now()
        self.save()

# Combine multiple ABCs!
class Article(UUIDModel, SoftDeleteModel):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    content = models.TextField()
    # Has: uuid ID, soft delete, timestamps

⚠️ Important Rule

Abstract base classes can have:

• ✅ Fields
• ✅ Methods
• ✅ Meta options (inherited to children)
• ✅ Managers

But they CANNOT:

• ❌ Be queried directly (BaseModel.objects.all() = ERROR!)
• ❌ Have a database table
• ❌ Be used in ForeignKey/ManyToMany (use child models!)

🎯 Quick Decision Guide

graph TD
    A[Need to share fields?] -->|Yes| B{Need parent in DB?}
    A -->|No| Z[Use regular model]
    B -->|No| C[✅ Abstract Base Class]
    B -->|Yes| D{Same data, different behavior?}
    D -->|Yes| E[✅ Proxy Model]
    D -->|No| F[✅ Multi-Table Inheritance]

🚀 Putting It All Together

Here’s a real-world example combining everything:

import uuid
from django.db import models

class BaseModel(models.Model):
    """Abstract base with timestamps and UUID"""
    id = models.UUIDField(
        primary_key=True,
        default=uuid.uuid4
    )
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

    class Meta:
        abstract = True
        ordering = ['-created_at']

class Article(BaseModel):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    slug = models.SlugField(unique=True)
    status = models.CharField(
        max_length=20,
        choices=[
            ('draft', 'Draft'),
            ('published', 'Published')
        ]
    )
    views = models.PositiveIntegerField(default=0)

    class Meta:
        verbose_name = 'News Article'
        indexes = [
            models.Index(fields=['status', '-created_at']),
            models.Index(fields=['slug']),
        ]
        constraints = [
            models.CheckConstraint(
                check=models.Q(views__gte=0),
                name='views_not_negative'
            )
        ]

This model has:

• 🔑 UUID primary key (from BaseModel)
• 📅 Automatic timestamps (from BaseModel)
• 📋 Custom ordering (from Meta)
• 🚀 Two indexes for fast queries
• 🔒 A constraint ensuring views can’t go negative
• 📛 Nice name in admin

🎉 You Did It!

You now understand Django’s Model Structure Options:

1. Meta Basics → Settings for your model (sorting, naming, table name)
2. Constraints → Rules your data must follow
3. Indexes → Speed boosters for queries
4. Inheritance → Three ways to share code
5. Abstract Base Classes → Invisible blueprints for reusable fields

Remember: Good models = Good applications! Build your data kingdom wisely! 🏰👑