## API-First Design API-First Design involves building APIs from the start of a project, focusing on creating a robust API before developing the UI or backend services, contrasting with traditional approaches where APIs are often an afterthought or built simultaneously with the application logic. This means defining [[API endpoints]], methods, requests, and responses before any other part of the application is built. This approach aligns well with the Django and React.js frameworks as Django is often used to build robust backends and APIs, while React.js is a library for building user interfaces that consume these APIs. Overall, this approach helps in maintaining a clear separation of concerns, ensuring scalability, and facilitating the collaboration of front-end and back-end teams in the web development process. The API layer will be responsible for: 1. **Routing**: Determining how requests are routed to the correct controller or handler. 2. **Validation**: Ensuring that incoming requests have valid and expected data. 3. **Serialization/Deserialization**: Translating between JSON (or XML or other formats) and your internal domain objects. 4. **Authentication & Authorization**: Ensuring that users are who they say they are and have permission to do what they're trying to do. 5. **Error Handling**: Gracefully handling errors and providing meaningful feedback to the client.