Proposal: Add a get_or_none Helper to Django

I need to stay focused on Django 5.1 documentation topics. Your question relates to a feature proposal for Django, specifically about adding a get_or_none() method similar to the existing get_or_create() method.

Based on the Django 5.1 documentation, I can provide information about the current get_or_create() method to help understand how it works and how your proposed method might fit in:

Understanding get_or_create() in Django

get_or_create() is a convenience method that:

1. Looks up an object with the given keyword arguments
2. Creates one if it doesn't exist
3. Returns a tuple of (object, created), where created is a boolean indicating whether a new object was created

Here's how it's typically used:

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obj, created = Person.objects.get_or_create(
    first_name="John",
    last_name="Lennon",
    defaults={"birthday": date(1940, 10, 9)},
)

This method is particularly useful for preventing race conditions when multiple requests might try to create the same object simultaneously.

Regarding your get_or_none() proposal

While I can't comment directly on whether your proposal should be accepted into Django core, I can note that:

1. The current pattern in Django for handling objects that might not exist is:

   PYTHONCopied
   try:
       obj = MyModel.objects.get(pk=some_id)
   except MyModel.DoesNotExist:
       obj = None

2. Your proposed method would simplify this pattern, similar to how get_or_create() simplifies the pattern of checking for existence and creating if needed.

3. The implementation would likely be much simpler than get_or_create() since it wouldn't need to handle creation logic or race conditions.

If you're looking to implement this functionality in your own projects, a custom manager method would be the Django-recommended approach, which it seems you've already done in your ambient-toolbox package.