Building a simple web application

Python Web Development with Python: A Comprehensive Overview Building a simple web application

Building a simple web application involves creating a project structure, defining routes, creating views, and rendering templates. For this example, we’ll use the Flask web framework to build a basic web application that displays a homepage.

Step 1: Set Up the Project

Create a new directory for your project and set up a virtual environment:

mkdir mywebapp
cd mywebapp
python -m venv venv

Activate the virtual environment:

On Windows:

venv\Scripts\activate

On macOS/Linux:

source venv/bin/activate

Step 2: Install Flask

Install Flask using pip:

pip install Flask

Step 3: Create the Flask Application

Create a file named app.py for your Flask application:

# app.py
from flask import Flask, render_template

app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route('/')
def home():
    return render_template('index.html', title='Home', content='Welcome to My Web App!')

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

Step 4: Create Templates Folder

Inside your project directory, create a folder named templates. This is where Flask will look for HTML templates.

Step 5: Create HTML Template

Inside the templates folder, create a file named index.html:

<!-- templates/index.html -->
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>{{ title }}</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>{{ content }}</h1>
</body>
</html>

Step 6: Run the Application

Back in the terminal, run your Flask application:

python app.py

Visit http://localhost:5000 in your web browser, and you should see your simple web application displaying the welcome message.

Step 7: Deactivate Virtual Environment

When you’re done working on your project, deactivate the virtual environment:

deactivate

Congratulations! You’ve built a simple web application using Flask. This example serves as a starting point, and you can expand and customize it by adding more routes, views, and templates based on your application’s requirements. Additionally, you can explore integrating databases, handling forms, and incorporating more advanced features as you progress in your web development journey.

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