by topherPedersen

Keeping it Simple, Stupid: Handling HTTP GET & POST Requests in Python with Flask

TLDR: Skip To The Bottom of This Post/Rant for the Answer to Handling HTTP POST & GET Requests in Python with Flask (the Easy Way)

Just sort of wanted to vent here for a minute… I’m working out of Miguel Grinberg’s Flask Web Development (2nd Edition) trying to teach myself Flask and I’m really frustrated: I’m only on Chapter 4 and this guy has already thrown in Bootstrap and another 3rd party library (Flask-WTF) and the examples are quickly growing in complexity to the point where I’m having trouble following along. I wish authors would just keep things as simple as possible. There’s no need to use every feature, and every library, when writing a programming book or tutorial. Programming is complicated enough.
O well I suppose. I got a lot out of the first three chapters, but it looks like I’m going to have to move on to another book to keep learning. Tossing in this Flask-WTF library and using  the ‘extends’ and ‘block’ features in the Jinja2 templates just makes it too confusing as a complete beginner. I’m sure that the ‘extends’ and ‘block’ features are nice to have, but they aren’t appropriate this early in a programming tutorial. Just demonstrate how to do something in its most simplest form.
TAKEAWAY: Read all the programming books on a given subject. Take what you can from each book, and move on to the next when necessary.
UPDATE: Here are the three other books on Flask which I’m planning on diving into tonight–

  1. Building Web Applications with Flask by Italo Maia
  2. Flask by Example by Gareth Dwyer
  3. Learning Flask Framework by Matt Copperwaite & Charles Leifer

three_books_on_flask.png
UPDATE: Okay, so two of the three new books also jump straight into handling HTTP GET & POST Requests using Flask-WTF, but luckily Flask By Example kept things simple and demonstrated the simplest way to handle networking requests. Need to grag some GET or POST data? Simply call:

# Retrieve Data from an HTTP GET Request
from flask import request
username = request.args.get("username")

 

# Retrieve Data from an HTTP POST Request
# Additional Reference: https://bit.ly/2HsJtD1
# Note, we are using HTTP POST, However the
# Method Name is Still .get()
# A Bit confusing eh?
from flask import request
username = request.form.get("username")
password = request.form.get("password")

 

 

topherPedersen