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You're reading from  Full-Stack Flask and React

Product typeBook
Published inOct 2023
Reading LevelIntermediate
PublisherPackt
ISBN-139781803248448
Edition1st Edition
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Author (1)
Olatunde Adedeji
Olatunde Adedeji
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Olatunde Adedeji

Olatunde Adedeji is a seasoned web developer with over 15 years of experience in developing dynamic and detail-oriented enterprise web applications. Along with his extensive experience in developing, maintaining and supporting mobile, web and enterprise applications in Python, Go and JavaScript, Olatunde has consistently delivered excellent services, as team lead, team member or in consultancy capacity. Olatunde is proficient in application design and solution blueprinting; including mastery of application development tools such as: Flask, Django, Gin, React, and NodeJS. When not weaving the web and playing chess, Olatunde spends time with his wife, Adedoyin and two daughters, Mitchelle and Mabel.
Read more about Olatunde Adedeji

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Preface

Full-Stack Flask and React is designed to be your definitive guide to mastering the art of full stack web development using the dynamic duo – React and Flask.

Whether you’re a curious learner looking to learn both frontend and backend development or an experienced developer looking to expand your skill set, this book is structured to take you on a journey of building modern web applications.

In today’s digital age, building web applications that are interactive, dynamic, and responsive seamlessly to user interactions is crucial. Flask, an open source, micro-web framework written in Python, promotes fast development and embraces a clean and practical design approach. On the other hand, React, a JavaScript library to build user interfaces, offers an efficient and flexible way to create interactive UIs. By combining the power of React and the lightweight Flask framework, you’ll gain the ability to create modern full stack web applications with ease.

In this book, we’ll head first to components-driven development with React and explore the fundamentals of React. We will explore concepts such as components, props and state, JSX, managing state with React Hooks, data fetching in React, displaying lists, events handling, routing with React Router, and unit testing with Jest. Then, we’ll continue with full stack application development with Flask.

We’ll cover everything from SQL and data modeling to creating RESTful APIs, integrating a React client with the Flask backend, authentication and authorization, building modular and reusable Flask applications with Blueprint, error handling, unit testing in Flask, and understanding how your web applications can be deployed to the cloud. We’ll break down complex concepts into bite-sized pieces, provide clear explanations, and offer practical examples to ensure that you grasp each topic along the way. Whether you prefer learning by doing or enjoy deep dives into the inner workings of these technologies, we’ve got you covered.

Who this book is for

This book is ideal for developers who are interested in expanding their skills and knowledge in full stack web development. Whether you are a backend developer looking to learn frontend development with React or a frontend developer looking to learn server-side development with Flask, this book will provide you with the necessary guidance and practical examples to become proficient in full stack development.

Prior knowledge of basic HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python is required to benefit from this book.

Prior knowledge of basic HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Python is required to benefit from this book.

What this book covers

This book is divided into 16 chapters, each focusing on essential concepts and practical techniques that you need to know to become proficient in full stack Flask web development with React.

Let’s take a closer look at the chapters:

Chapter 1, Getting Full Stack Ready with React and Flask, lays the groundwork for your full stack development journey. We will discuss the reasons for developing web applications with React and Flask. You’ll learn how to set up your development environment and install React and Flask. You will also learn the fundamentals of Git for source versioning and the project we will build in this book.

Chapter 2, Getting Started with React, introduces you to the basics of React, including exploring the React project structure, components, props, and state. We will discuss JavaScript concepts frequently used in React, such as destructuring, arrow functions, and default and named exports. You’ll build a solid foundation to create React applications.

Chapter 3, Managing State with React Hooks, delves into the power of React Hooks, such as useState, useEffect, useContext, useRef, useMemo, useCallback, and useReducer. You’ll discover how Hooks simplify state management and enable you to create more reusable and scalable code.

Chapter 4, Fetching Data with React APIs, focuses on fetching data in React applications. You’ll explore different techniques using React Query, async/await syntax, the Fetch API, and Axios; handle loading and error states; and implement caching for efficient data retrieval.

Chapter 5, JSX and Displaying Lists in React, covers the display of dynamic lists in React. You’ll learn how to use JSX as a bridge that connects JavaScript and HTML, implement nesting lists in JSX, loop over objects in JSX, and efficiently handle events in React.

Chapter 6, Working with React Router and Forms, guides you through the process of handling form input and validation, form submission, and implementing client-side routing using React Router.

Chapter 7, React Unit Testing, teaches you how to write comprehensive unit tests for React components using Jest and React Testing Library. You’ll gain confidence in the quality and reliability of your code.

Chapter 8, SQL and Data Modeling, introduces you to SQL and database modeling. You’ll learn how to set up databases, perform CRUD operations, and design efficient data models for your applications.

Chapter 9, API Development and Documentation, dives into the world of API development with Flask. You’ll understand RESTful API concepts, implement CRUD operations, and document your APIs effectively.

Chapter 10, Integrating the React Frontend with the Flask Backend, focuses on establishing communication between the React client and Flask backend. You’ll learn how to handle API calls and requests seamlessly.

Chapter 11, Fetching and Displaying Data in a React-Flask Application, explores the process of fetching and displaying data in a full stack React-Flask application. You’ll learn how to handle CRUD operations in a Flask-React application. You will also learn how to handle pagination in a Flask application.

Chapter 12, Authentication and Authorization, covers essential topics of user authentication and authorization. You’ll implement secure login and registration functionalities, identify system users and manage their information, learn about session management, create a password-protected resource, implement flash messages in Flask, and ensure the security of your application.

Chapter 13, Error Handling, delves into effective error-handling techniques in Flask applications. You’ll learn about different types of errors and how to use Flask debugger, create error handlers, create custom error pages, track events in your application, and send error emails to administrators.

Chapter 14, Modular Architecture – The Power of Blueprints, introduces the concept of modular architecture and blueprints in Flask. You’ll learn how to organize your code base into reusable modules and create a scalable application structure.

Chapter 15, Flask Unit Testing, explores the importance of unit testing in Flask applications. You’ll discover techniques to write comprehensive tests for your Flask components, ensuring the robustness of your backend.

Chapter 16, Containerization and Flask Application Deployment, concludes the book by covering the deployment and containerization of Flask applications. You’ll learn how to deploy your applications on servers and leverage containerization technologies for efficient deployment.

Each chapter is crafted to provide clear explanations to develop an interactive and efficient fast enterprise web application. You’ll gain a deep understanding of both React and Flask and become proficient in developing full stack web applications.

We hope this book serves as your essential definitive guide on your journey to becoming a skilled full stack web developer. Don’t hesitate to experiment, ask questions, and explore beyond the boundaries of the topics we cover. This book serves as a starting point, but the possibilities are endless. Let’s dive in and unlock the limitless potential of Full Stack Flask Web Development with React!

To get the most out of this book

We recommend using the latest version of Python. Flask supports Python 3.8+, React, and Node.js 16+, and Docker 23+ installation is required for this book. All code and examples in this book are tested using Flask 2.3.2 and React 18.2.

Software/hardware covered in the book

Operating system requirements

Python

Windows, macOS, or Linux

React

Windows, macOS, or Linux

Flask

Windows, macOS, or Linux

PostgreSQL

Windows, macOS, or Linux

Docker

Windows, macOS, or Linux

JavaScript

Windows, macOS, or Linux

If you are using the digital version of this book, we advise you to type the code yourself or access the code from the book’s GitHub repository (a link is available in the next section). Doing so will help you avoid any potential errors related to the copying and pasting of code.

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Full-Stack-Flask-and-React. If there’s an update to the code, it will be updated in the GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: “Navigate to the Bizza folder after the setup has finished.”

A block of code is set as follows:

bizza/--node_modules/
--public/
----index.html
----manifest.json

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

function App() {  return (
    <div className="App">
      <header className="App-header">
        <img src={logo} className="App-logo" alt="logo" />
        <p>
          Edit <code>src/App.js</code> and save to reload.

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

$ node -v$ npm -v

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see on screen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: “Log in and click on Repositories.”

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at customercare@packtpub.com and mention the book title in the subject of your message.

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at copyright@packt.com with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

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Author (1)

author image
Olatunde Adedeji

Olatunde Adedeji is a seasoned web developer with over 15 years of experience in developing dynamic and detail-oriented enterprise web applications. Along with his extensive experience in developing, maintaining and supporting mobile, web and enterprise applications in Python, Go and JavaScript, Olatunde has consistently delivered excellent services, as team lead, team member or in consultancy capacity. Olatunde is proficient in application design and solution blueprinting; including mastery of application development tools such as: Flask, Django, Gin, React, and NodeJS. When not weaving the web and playing chess, Olatunde spends time with his wife, Adedoyin and two daughters, Mitchelle and Mabel.
Read more about Olatunde Adedeji