Flask API Development: Rapid Construction of RESTful-Style Interfaces

This article introduces the combined development of Flask with RESTful APIs. Flask is a lightweight Python web framework suitable for quickly developing small applications and APIs. RESTful APIs are based on the HTTP protocol, implementing CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations through resources (nouns) and HTTP methods (GET/POST/PUT/DELETE), and returning operation results using status codes (e.g., 200 for success, 201 for successful creation, 404 for not found). To install Flask, Python must first be installed, followed by `pip install flask`. The first example is a "Hello World" API, where the code returns JSON-formatted data via the `/hello` route. In the practical section, a Todo API is constructed: using an in-memory list to simulate a database, implementing `/todos` (GET to retrieve all, POST to add) and `/todos/<id>` (GET to retrieve a single item, PUT for full update, DELETE for deletion) functionalities. Testing the API can be done using Postman or curl, for example, `curl http://localhost:5000/todos` to get todos. Advanced directions include route parameters, data validation, database integration, authentication and authorization, etc. The conclusion points out that combining Flask with RESTful APIs can standardize development, and the Todo example helps master core skills such as resource design and application of HTTP methods.