Steps to Start Web Development with Python

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1. Setting Up the Environment

  • Install Python: Make sure you have the latest version of Python installed.
  • Install Pip: This is Python’s package manager (comes with Python but good to check).
  • Set Up a Virtual Environment: Virtual environments keep your project dependencies separate.
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # Linux/macOS
venv\Scripts\activate  # Windows

2. Flask Framework (Beginner-Friendly)

Flask is a lightweight, minimalistic web framework. You can start small, and it’s easy to scale up.

Installing Flask:

pip install Flask

Basic Flask Application:

from flask import Flask

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def home():
    return "Hello, Flask!"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run(debug=True)

This creates a basic web server that responds with “Hello, Flask!” when you visit http://localhost:5000/.

3. Django Framework (Full-Featured)

Django is a powerful, full-stack web framework. It comes with built-in support for databases, admin panels, and more.

Installing Django:

pip install django

Creating a Django Project:

django-admin startproject myproject
cd myproject
python manage.py runserver

Django has a lot of built-in functionality, like handling user authentication, forms, and database management.

4. Frontend Integration (HTML, CSS, JavaScript)

  • Learn how Flask or Django can serve HTML pages.
  • Add CSS for styling and JavaScript for dynamic behavior.

5. Connecting to a Database

  • For Flask: You can use SQLite or SQLAlchemy for database integration.
  • For Django: It has built-in support for SQLite but can easily work with other databases like PostgreSQL.

6. Building RESTful APIs

Learn how to build APIs with Flask or Django for frontend-backend communication or external integration.

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