What is the right way to validate if an object exists in a django view without returning 404?
You can also do:
if not RealEstateListing.objects.filter(slug_url=slug).exists():
# do stuff...
Sometimes it's more clear to use try: except:
block and other times one-liner exists()
makes the code looking clearer... all depends on your application logic.
I would not use the 404 wrapper if you aren't given a 404. That is misuse of intent. Just catch the DoesNotExist, instead.
try:
listing = RealEstateListing.objects.get(slug_url=slug)
except RealEstateListing.DoesNotExist:
listing = None