Returning explicit HTTP status codes in Django and DRF views ensures clients (frontend apps, API consumers) handle success, validation errors, and missing resources properly.

Django DRF Response Status Codes Code Example

views.pypython
from rest_framework.response import Response
from rest_framework import status
from rest_framework.decorators import api_view
 
@api_view(['POST'])
def create_item(request):
    name = request.data.get('name')
    if not name:
        return Response({"error": "Name required"}, status=status.HTTP_400_BAD_REQUEST)
        
    return Response({"message": "Item created"}, status=status.HTTP_201_CREATED)