simple_flask_restful

simple_flask_restful is a lightweight Python package that provides a simpler interface to create RESTful APIs using Flask.

Installation

The package can be installed via pip:

pip3 install simple_flask_restful

Usage

The package provides a Flask application object and an Api object to define the RESTful resources. Here is an example:

from simple_flask_restful import Flask, Resource, Api

app = Flask(__name__)
api = Api(app)

class HelloWorld(Resource):
    def get(self):
        return {'message': 'Hello, world!'}

api.add_resource(HelloWorld, '/')

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

In the above example, we define a HelloWorld resource that returns a simple JSON message. We add this resource to the Api object, which in turn adds it to the Flask application object.

Resources

A resource is a Python class that defines the HTTP methods that are allowed on a particular URL endpoint. Here is an example:

from simple_flask_restful import Flask, Resource, Api, reqparse
class Multiply(Resource):
    def __init__(self):
        self.parser = reqparse.RequestParser()
        self.parser.add_argument('num1', type=float, required=True)
        self.parser.add_argument('num2', type=float, required=True)

    def get(self):
        args = self.parser.parse_args()
        result = args['num1'] * args['num2']
        return {'result': result}

In the above example, we define a Multiply resource that expects two query parameters, numone and num2, and returns their product. We use the reqparse module to parse the query parameters.

To add this resource to the Api object, we use the add_resource method:

api.add_resource(Multiply, '/multiply', '/product')

This maps the Multiply resource to the /multiply and /multiply URL endpoint.

Return Format: The return of method (get/post/put/delete) in the child class of Resource should be a dictionary or in JSON format. The default HTTP status code is 200.

Example: return {'result': result} is the same as return {'result': result}, 200

Running the Server

To run the Flask server, simply call the run method on the Flask application object:

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

This will start the server on port 5000. You can access the resources at their corresponding URL endpoints, for example: http://localhost:5000/multiply?numone=2&num2=3.

reqparse

We are using the reqparse module to parse the arguments of the incoming request.

add_argument()

add_argument(name, dest=None, required=False, type=None, choices=None, help=None, default=None)

This method adds a new argument to the parser.

• name: The name of the argument.
• dest: The name of the attribute to store the argument in. If not specified, name will be used.
• required: If True, this argument must be included in the request. Defaults to False.
• type: The expected data type of the argument. If specified, the argument will be coerced to this type. Supported types include str, int, float, bool, and any callable that takes a single string argument and returns the parsed value. If not specified, the argument will be returned as a string.
• choices: A list of valid choices for the argument. If specified, the argument must be one of these choices.
• help: The error message to display if the argument is invalid.
• default: The default value for the argument if it is not included in the request.

parse_args()

parse_args(strict=False) This method parses the arguments of the incoming request.

• strict: If True, the request must contain only the arguments that were added to the parser. If False, additional arguments will be ignored. Defaults to False.

License

simple_flask_restful is released under the MIT License.