Developing a POST API for Database Integration in Python Using Flask #python #flask

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a POST API to interact with a database using Python and Flask. Flask is a lightweight web framework for Python that allows us to easily build web applications. We will be using SQLite as our database for this tutorial, but you can easily adapt the code to work with other database systems such as MySQL or PostgreSQL.

Step 1: Set up your environment

Make sure you have Python installed on your system. You can download Python from the official website at https://www.python.org/downloads/. Once you have Python installed, you can install Flask using the following command:

pip install Flask

Step 2: Create a new Python file and import the necessary modules

Create a new Python file in your preferred code editor and import the required modules:

from flask import Flask, request, jsonify
import sqlite3

Step 3: Initialize the Flask application and connect to the SQLite database

Next, initialize the Flask application and connect to the SQLite database:

app = Flask(__name__)

# Connect to the database
conn = sqlite3.connect('database.db')
c = conn.cursor()

Step 4: Create a POST API endpoint to add data to the database

Now, let’s create a POST API endpoint that allows us to add data to the database:

@app.route('/add_data', methods=['POST'])
def add_data():
    data = request.get_json()

    c.execute("INSERT INTO table_name (column1, column2) VALUES (?, ?)",
              (data['value1'], data['value2']))
    conn.commit()

    return jsonify({'message': 'Data added successfully'})

In this code snippet, we are defining a new route /add_data that accepts POST requests. We are retrieving the JSON data sent in the request, inserting the data into the database, and then returning a success message in JSON format.

Step 5: Run the Flask application

Finally, run the Flask application by adding the following code at the bottom of your Python file:

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

Now you can run your Flask application by executing the Python file. The application will start running on http://localhost:5000/ by default.

Step 6: Test the API

You can now test your API using a tool like Postman or cURL by sending a POST request to http://localhost:5000/add_data with a JSON body containing the data you want to add to the database. Make sure to replace table_name, column1, and column2 with the actual table name and column names in your database.

That’s it! You have successfully created a POST API to interact with a database using Python and Flask. You can now build more complex APIs and applications using Flask and expand on this tutorial by adding more endpoints and functionalities.