[python] Django - what is the difference between render(), render_to_response() and direct_to_template()?

Rephrasing Yuri, Fábio, and Frosts answers for the Django noob (i.e. me) - almost certainly a simplification, but a good starting point?

  • render_to_response() is the "original", but requires you putting context_instance=RequestContext(request) in nearly all the time, a PITA.

  • direct_to_template() is designed to be used just in urls.py without a view defined in views.py but it can be used in views.py to avoid having to type RequestContext

  • render() is a shortcut for render_to_response() that automatically supplies context_instance=Request.... Its available in the django development version (1.2.1) but many have created their own shortcuts such as this one, this one or the one that threw me initially, Nathans basic.tools.shortcuts.py