Flask: Building Python Web Services

Unleash the full potential of the Flask web framework by creating small to large and powerful web applications

About This Book

• Create your own world-class applications and master the art of Flask by unravelling its enigma through this journey
• Packed with recipes containing lots of sample applications to help you understand the intricacies of Flask web programming
• Work with scalable Flask application structures to create complex web apps

Who This Book Is For

This learning path is ideal developers who know the basics of Python and want to learn how to use the Flask framework to build powerful web solutions in Python.

What You Will Learn

• Build three web applications from the ground up using the powerful Python micro framework, Flask.
• Extend your applications to build advanced functionality, such as a user account control system using Flask-Login
• Learn about web application security and defend against common attacks, such as SQL injection and XSS
• Integrate with technologies like Redis, Sentry, MongoDB and so on
• Build applications with integrations to most of the login mechanisms available
• Don’t just stop at development. Learn about deployment and post-deployment
• Use SQLAlchemy to programmatically query a database
• Develop a custom Flask extension

In Detail

Are you a fan of Python? Want to use it to create powerful web applications? Then Flask is the perfect choice for you. This course will take you through the intricacies of the Flask Microframework, covering all it’s components and elements and how to integrate it with useful third party libraries. Dive deep into what Flask has to offer and then you will create multiple Python apps from scratch on your own.

The first module will introduce you to web development using Flask to building fully functional web applications. Hands-on and pragmatic, this tutorial goes right to the crux of Flask by showing you how to build challenging real-world applications.

The second module introduces you to a number of recipes that will help you understand the power of Flask and its extensions. Start by seeing the different configurations that a Flask application can make use of. By the end of this module, you will have gained all the knowledge required to write Flask applications in the best possible way, and scale them with best practices.

The final module will walk you through advanced Flask topics while providing practical examples of for all your lessons learned. The module closes with a discussion of the different platforms that are available to deploy a Flask app on, the pros and cons of each one, and how to deploy on each one.

This Learning Path combines some of the best that Packt has to offer in one complete, curated package. It includes content from the following Packt products:

• Flask By-Example: Gareth Dwyer
• Flask Framework Cookbook: Shalabh Aggarwal
• Mastering Flask: Jack Stouffer

Style and approach

Filled with practical examples and recipes, this course is a great combination of example-driven learning complemented by exciting techniques to build powerful Python web applications with the Flask framework

Table of Contents

1. Module 1
1. Hello, World!
2. Getting Started with Our Headlines Project
3. Using Templates in Our Headlines Project
4. User Input for Our Headlines Project
5. Improving the User Experience of Our Headlines Project
6. Building an Interactive Crime Map
7. Adding Google Maps to Our Crime Map Project
8. Validating User Input in Our Crime Map Project
9. Building a Waiter Caller App
10. Template Inheritance and WTForms in Waiter Caller Project
11. Using MongoDB with Our Waiter Caller Project

2. Module 2
1. Flask Configurations
2. Templating with Jinja2
3. Data Modeling in Flask
4. Working with Views
5. Webforms with WTForms
6. Authenticating in Flask
7. RESTful API Building
8. Admin Interface for Flask Apps
9. Internationalization and Localization
10. Debugging, Error Handling, and Testing
11. Deployment and Post Deployment
12. Other Tips and Tricks

3. Module 3
1. Getting Started
2. Creating Models with SQLAlchemy
3. Creating Views with Templates
4. Creating Controllers with Blueprints
5. Advanced Application Structure
6. Securing Your App
7. Using NoSQL with Flask
8. Building RESTful APIs
9. Creating Asynchronous Tasks with Celery
10. Useful Flask Extensions
11. Building Your Own Extension
12. Testing Flask Apps
13. Deploying Flask Apps