Database Optimization in Django

As your Django application grows, database queries can become a bottleneck. Understanding Django's ORM query behavior is crucial for performance.

Key optimization techniques:

1. Use select_related() for foreign key lookups
2. Use prefetch_related() for many-to-many relationships
3. Use only() and defer() to limit fetched columns
4. Add database indexes for frequently queried fields
5. Use django-debug-toolbar to identify N+1 queries

The Django Debug Toolbar is an invaluable tool during development. It shows every SQL query executed for a page load, making it easy to spot inefficient query patterns.