Flask: Building Python Web Services by Jack Stouffer

Key FeaturesCreate your own world-class applications and master the art of Flask by unravelling its enigma through this journeyPacked with recipes containing lots of sample applications to help you understand the intricacies of Flask web programmingWork with scalable Flask application structures to create complex web appsBook DescriptionAre 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 its 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 DwyerFlask Framework Cookbook: Shalabh AggarwalMastering Flask: Jack StoufferWhat you will learnBuild 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-LoginLearn about web application security and defend against common attacks, such as SQL injection and XSSIntegrate with technologies like Redis, Sentry, MongoDB and so onBuild applications with integrations to most of the login mechanisms availableDont just stop at development. Learn about deployment and post-deploymentUse SQLAlchemy to programmatically query a databaseDevelop a custom Flask extensionAbout the AuthorGareth Dwyer first heard the phrase, behind every no-entry sign there is a door, a couple of decades ago, and he has been looking for a counterexample ever since. He hasnt found one yet. Gareth grew up with his three siblings in Grahamstown, South Africa. There wasnt much there except some highly respected schools and a small university. Gareth had heard that school was an unpleasant and largely pointless experience, so he opted to skip it and go to the university instead. The university door had a no-entry sign on the door because it only accepted people who had gone to school. Gareth ignored the sign. He studied piano for a while but soon, he wondered if there was more to life than sitting in front of a keyboard all day. So he switched from piano to computer science, and it took him a while to realize the irony. He studied philosophy too because it was here that people never told him to stop being so argumentative. Gareth noticed the disparagement that his philosophy and computer science departments felt towards each other, and he found it strange. He soon discovered that he wasnt the first person to see that there was room for some common ground, and he went to Europe to study computational linguistics, where he found other people who liked debating the finer points of language while talking about the three hardest problems of computer science (naming things, and off-by-one errors). In between doodling on blank paper while listening to very knowledgeable people lecture on content that was occasionally fascinating but often soporific, Gareth has gained so-called industry experience with companies such as Amazon Web Services in Cape Town and MWR InfoSecurity in Johannesburg. He has several years experience in writing, and his favorite languages are English and Python. He discovered that writing and writing a book are not fully overlapping experiences, and the former is hardly preparation for the latter. The pages that follow would not have come into existence without the combined efforts of many people.Shalabh Aggarwal has several years of experience in developing business systems and web applications for small-to-medium scale industries. He started his career working on Python, and although he works on multiple technologies, he remains a Python developer at heart. He is passionate about open source technologies and writes highly readable and quality code. He is a major contributor to some very popular open source applications. He has worked with Openlabs Technologies and Consulting (P) Limited as the CTO for a large part of his career. He is also active in voluntary training for engineering students on nonconventional and open source topics. When not working with full-time assignments, he consults for start-ups on leveraging different technologies. When not writing code, he writes non-technical literature and makes music with his guitar.Jack Stouffer is a programmer who has several years of experience in designing web applications. He switched to Flask two years ago for all his projects. He currently works for Apollo America in Auburn Hills, Michigan and writes internal business tools and software using Python, Flask, and JavaScript. Jack is a believer and supporter of open source technology. When he released his Flask examples with the recommended best practices on GitHub, it became one of the most popular Flask repositories on the site. Jack has also worked as a reviewer for Flask Framework Cookbook, Packt Publishing.Table of ContentsHello, World!Getting Started with Our Headlines ProjectUsing Templates in Our Headlines ProjectUser Input for Our Headlines ProjectImproving the User Experience of Our Headlines ProjectBuilding an Interactive Crime MapAdding Google Maps to Our Crime Map ProjectValidating User Input in Our Crime Map ProjectBuilding a Waiter Caller AppTemplate Inheritance and WTForms in Waiter Caller ProjectUsing MongoDB with Our Waiter Caller ProjectA Sneak Peek into the FutureFlask ConfigurationsTemplating with Jinja2Data Modeling in FlaskWorking with ViewsWebforms with WTFormsAuthenticating in FlaskRESTful API BuildingAdmin Interface for Flask AppsInternationalization and LocalizationDebugging, Error Handling, and TestingDeployment and Post DeploymentOther Tips and TricksGetting StartedCreating Models with SQLAlchemyCreating Views with TemplatesCreating Controllers with BlueprintsAdvanced Application StructureSecuring Your AppUsing NoSQL with FlaskBuilding RESTful APIsCreating Asynchronous Tasks with CeleryUseful Flask ExtensionsBuilding Your Own ExtensionTesting Flask AppsDeploying Flask AppsBibliography