Introduction:
Flask is a micro web framework for Python, designed to be lightweight, flexible, and easy to use. It allows developers to build web applications with minimal overhead while offering extensibility through plugins and libraries.
Key Features of Flask:
Lightweight and Modular:
Flask doesn’t enforce a particular structure, making it easy to start with and scalable for more complex projects.Built-in Development Server & Debugger:
It includes a built-in web server and interactive debugger, enhancing the development experience.RESTful Request Handling:
Flask is designed with RESTful request processing in mind, making it suitable for building APIs.Extensibility:
While minimal by design, Flask can integrate various extensions like:Flask-SQLAlchemy: for ORM support.
Flask-Migrate: for database migrations.
Flask-WTF: for form handling.
Template Engine (Jinja2):
Flask uses Jinja2 for rendering dynamic HTML templates.
Common Use Cases:
Simple Web Applications:
For smaller projects where a lightweight framework is preferred.RESTful APIs:
Flask is popular for creating APIs due to its simplicity and flexibility.Prototyping:
It’s easy to get a prototype up and running quickly with Flask.Microservices:
Due to its minimal design, Flask is well-suited for microservices architectures.
from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)
@app.route('/')
def hello_world():
return 'Hello, World!'
if __name__ == '__main__':
app.run(debug=True)
Advantages:
Easy to Learn: Perfect for beginners due to its simple setup and minimalistic approach.
Highly Flexible: Developers have full control over components and can choose the tools they prefer.
Large Community & Ecosystem: Numerous tutorials, plugins, and libraries are available for Flask.
Disadvantages:
Not as Feature-Rich as Django: Flask lacks built-in tools like an admin interface or ORM.
Manual Handling of Components: You need to manage security, database migrations, etc., manually.