get_absolute_url() vs {% url 'item:detail' item.pk %}

[MaximilianKindshofer]

@KenWhitesell

In my opinion, the biggest benefit of using it is that it allows your templates to be more generic. When you define a get_absolute_url for a model, then you can have multiple models using the same template. (For example, you might have a generic listing page that needs to refer to a model-specific detail page.)

That never occurred to me.

@KenWhitesell

Another benefit is that it removes a dependency between your application structure and the template, reducing the possibility that a refactoring of your urls will break a template.

Isn’t {% url ‘item:detail’ %} doing the same reverse() lookup like you could define in get_absolute_url()? Obviousy if you would hardcode the url in the template that would be the worst option.