Rapid Flask

We need to know what we'll achieve through this course, and set up the software and frameworks we'll be working with.

• Install pip
• Install Flask
• Set up the correct directory structure 

We need to create a basic Flask app that we can extend to suit our needs.

• Create the directory structure
• Edit the .py file
• Run the script and view it in a web browser

We need our app to be able to deal with subpages and URL routing.

• Add new functions
• Dynamic routing
• Dynamic routing with type checking 

We need to know how to get data from the API and return it to the client as HTML.

• Make a web request and parse the data
• Build up the HTML string with the data
• Return the string to the client

We need to separate our view code from our logic code for simplicity and efficiency.

• Create a Jinja template file
• Set up the dynamic variables
• Pass the variables into the template and render it 

We need to create lists and tables inside our view files.

• Pass in a list of variables instead of individual variables
• Set up a Jinja loop to process the list
• Set up a Jinja if statement to change the font colour 

We need to be able to search for more than one city. We'll pass in a search term, and then use the API to get the weather data for the matching result.

• Add a new route to the app to be searched by the URL
• Improve this by using a get parameter instead
• Parse the get parameter using the Flask request context 

It's counter-intuitive for the user to have to modify the URL. We'll add a simple text input for the search query instead.

• Add a form to the template file
• Add the alternative method using POST requests
• Modify the routes to accept the POST data 

Our web app uses plain HTML and isn't aesthetically pleasing. We'll add a stylesheet and a Favicon in order to improve the look.

• Create the CSS file
• Create the Favicon
• Link the app to the CSS and Favicon in the template file 

The user shouldn't have to search for the same city all the time. We'll remember the user's default city using cookies and display this by default.

• Create a response object instead of rendering the template directly
• Read any existing cookies
• Add a checkbox to allow the user to choose whether or not to set the cookie 

Our app is quite clean and simple, but other apps will require more functionality. We'll look at some of the better Flask extensions.

• An overview of databases
• An overview of user accounts and more about forms
• An overview of security