Benefits of Using FastAPI for APIs

Introduction

• Presenter: Travis from Travis Dot Media
• Topic: Using APIs in modern applications
• Community: Travis launched a coding community for junior and aspiring developers

Traditional vs. Modern Application Development

• Traditional Development:
  • Examples: .NET, Laravel
  • Components: Models, Controllers, Views in one codebase
  • Issues: Difficulties in scaling to mobile, desktop, IoT (multiple codebases)
• Modern Development with API:
  • Central Backend: Models, Controllers, Routes (API)
  • Flexible Frontends: Web apps, mobile apps, desktop apps make calls to the same API
  • Example: Routes for login, logout, register, CRUD operations for posts

Importance of APIs

• APIs allow multiple platforms to interact with the same backend
• Essential for both backend and frontend developers to understand APIs

Introducing FastAPI

• Framework: FastAPI (Python-based)
• Advantages Over Flask:
  1. Plain Python Syntax: Easy readability for Python developers
  2. Built-in Async Support: Uses ASGI, handles requests asynchronously
  3. Data Validation: Uses Pydantic models
  4. Type Declaration: FastAPI supports type annotations
  5. JSON Errors: Errors are returned in JSON format
  6. Integrated Authentication: Support for HTTP basic auth, OAuth tokens, API keys
  7. Auto-generated Documentation: Built-in Swagger UI and ReDoc for API testing

Building a Simple To-Do App with FastAPI

• Setup:
  • Create a project directory
  • Create a virtual environment
  • Activate the virtual environment
  • Install FastAPI: pip install fastapi
  • Install Uvicorn server: pip install 'uvicorn[standard]'
• First Steps:
  • Create main.py and write initial FastAPI code
  • Example: Hello World JSON response

Practical Demonstration: Building API Endpoints

• Get All To-Dos:
  • Route: /todos
  • Method: GET
  • Returns a list of to-dos
• Get Single To-Do:
  • Route: /todos/{todo_id}
  • Method: GET
  • Returns a single to-do based on ID
• Create a To-Do:
  • Route: /todos
  • Method: POST
  • Adds a new to-do item with validation using Pydantic models
• Update a To-Do:
  • Route: /todos/{todo_id}
  • Method: PUT
  • Updates an existing to-do item based on ID
• Delete a To-Do:
  • Route: /todos/{todo_id}
  • Method: DELETE
  • Removes an existing to-do item based on ID

FastAPI Features Highlighted in To-Do App

• Use of decorators to define routes and methods
• Data validation with Pydantic models
• Async support for handling multiple requests efficiently
• JSON responses for errors
• Swagger and ReDoc for API documentation and testing

Conclusion

• FastAPI is a powerful tool for building modern APIs
• Fast, async, typed, with built-in validation and documentation
• Encouragement to continue exploring and building with FastAPI
• Community invitation: Join the Travis media community for extended content and learning opportunities