Django Middleware: Purpose & Uses

Middlewares in Django are a lightweight, reusable plugin system that allows for specific operations to be executed at different stages during the Django request/response handling process. The main purposes of middlewares include:

1. Perform certain pre-processing or post-processing operations before the request reaches the view or before the response is returned to the client.
2. It can be used to achieve functions such as identity verification, logging, performance tuning, and caching.
3. It is possible to modify or filter requests or responses, such as adding HTTP headers or redirecting requests.
4. It can be used to implement security controls, such as preventing CSRF attacks and XSS attacks.
5. Exceptions can be handled to capture and manage unhandled exceptions.
6. Different middleware combinations can be customized in different environments to meet various business needs.

In general, Django middleware allows developers to insert custom logic at different stages of request processing, making applications more flexible and scalable.