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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-28T15:49:55+00:00

In Django, the suggested software architecture is to put all business logic and data

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In Django, the suggested software architecture is to put all business logic and data access in models.

But, some colleagues have suggested that the data access layer should be separate from the business logic (business service layer). Their justification is that the data access layer can isolate changes if a different data source is used. They also say that there is business logic that can be in more than one model.

But, when I start coding using the separate data access and business logic layers, the data access layer is simple (basically the model code that defines the db schema) and it does not seem to add much value.

Is there really value in separating out the data access from django models or does django already provide a sufficient data access layer with its ORM?

I’m looking for developers that have implemented a fair number of django apps and find out what their opinion is. This is for a small to medium sized web app.

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    After three years of Django development, I’ve learned the following.

    The ORM is the access layer. Nothing more is needed.

    50% of the business logic goes in the model. Some of this is repeated or amplified in the Forms.

    20% of the business logic goes in Forms. All data validation, for example, is in the forms. In some cases, the forms will narrow a general domain (allowed in the model) to some subset that’s specific to the problem, the business or the industry.

    20% of the business logic winds up in other modules in the application. These modules are above the models and forms, but below the view functions, RESTful web services and command-line apps.

    10% of the business logic winds up in command-line apps using the management command interface. This is file loads, extracts, and random bulk changes.

    It’s very important that view functions and RESTful web services do approximately nothing. They use models, forms, and other modules as much as possible. The view functions and RESTful web services are limited to dealing with the vagaries of HTTP and the various data formats (JSON, HTML, XML, YAML, whatever.)

    Trying to invent Yet Another Access Layer is a zero-value exercise.

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