Flask Mission Control: Building Web Applications & APIs

By George Freedom

Go from simple scripts to fully deployed web applications. This comprehensive course (Lessons 1-9) will guide you through building and structuring web apps and APIs with Flask, preparing you to launch your own complex, data-driven projects.

🚀 Welcome to the Systems Engineer's Cockpit!

This repository hosts "Flask Mission Control: From Prototype to Production" – a comprehensive course presented in a series of Jupyter Notebooks and Python scripts.

This course is for learners who understand Python basics and are ready to build the systems that power the web. We will move beyond simple scripts to architecting the control panels, data APIs, and user interfaces for a deep-space asteroid mining mission. You will learn to think like a systems engineer, building robust, modular, and scalable web applications from the ground up.

🗺️ Course Outline / Your Mission Itinerary:

This curriculum is structured to guide you from initial setup to a fully deployed, modular web application.

• Lesson 1: First Ignition & Systems Check - Preparing your environment and launching your first simple web server.
• Lesson 2: Navigation & Schematics - Rendering HTML pages and creating links between different control panels.
• Lesson 3: Dynamic Displays with Jinja2 - Powering your HTML templates with live data and logic.
• Lesson 4: Two-Way Comms with WTF-Forms - Receiving and validating data from your crew and remote systems.
• Lesson 5: The Central Databank with SQLAlchemy - Establishing persistent data storage for your mission logs and crew manifests.
• Lesson 6: Automated Data Feeds with REST APIs - Building machine-to-machine communication channels for drones and autonomous probes.
• Lesson 7: Core Architecture I: The Application Factory - Rebuilding your prototype's core into a robust, configurable assembly line.
• Lesson 8: Core Architecture II: Blueprints - Expanding your system with specialized, independent modules for different mission tasks.
• Lesson 9: Mission Launch: Deployment - Preparing your application for the real world and deploying it to a production server.

🎯 Learning Objectives / Mission Capabilities to Master:

Upon completing this expedition, you will be able to:

• Design and build dynamic web applications using Flask.
• Create and process secure, validated web forms with Flask-WTF.
• Model and interact with a database using SQLAlchemy for persistent data storage.
• Build REST APIs to allow your applications to communicate with other systems.
• Architect clean, modular, and scalable applications using the Application Factory pattern and Blueprints.
• Prepare and deploy a production-ready web application to the internet.

🎒 Prerequisites / Pre-flight Briefing:

• A solid understanding of Python fundamentals (variables, data structures like lists and dictionaries, loops, and functions).
• Basic knowledge of Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) concepts in Python (classes and objects).
• Familiarity with basic HTML tags (<h1>, <p>, <form>, etc.).
• An interest in building the backend systems that power the web.

🧭 How to Use These Materials:

The lessons are provided as Jupyter Notebook (.ipynb) files. To use them:

0. Online: Download the Jupyter files and go on: https://jupyter.org/try .. and upload&open the files there

-- OR--

1. Clone or Download: Get a copy of this repository onto your local machine.

   git clone https://github.com/GeorgeFreedomTech/flask-apps-architecture-course.git

2. Ensure Jupyter is Installed: You'll need Jupyter Notebook or JupyterLab.
   • The common way is to install the Anaconda Distribution (which includes Jupyter).
   • Alternatively, install it via pip:

     pip install notebook
     # or for JupyterLab
     pip install jupyterlab

3. Launch Jupyter: Open your terminal or command prompt, navigate to the directory where you cloned/downloaded the files, and run:

   jupyter notebook

   or for JupyterLab:

   jupyter lab

4. Explore: Your browser should open the Jupyter interface. Navigate to the lesson files and open them to start your learning expedition! Each lesson notebook contains explanations, code examples, and exercises. A corresponding "Solutions" notebook is provided for the exercises.

🛰️ Repository Mission Objectives:

• Educational Launchpad: A practical, hands-on course that transforms your Python knowledge into the ability to build and deploy real-world web applications and control systems.
• Professional Blueprint: A showcase of my teaching methodology for architecting mission-critical web systems, from an initial prototype to a modular, production-ready application.
• Mission Log: A source of code examples and concepts for technical articles, tutorials, and professional debriefings on social media.

🔗 Next Steps & Connect:

• Visit my website: https://GeorgeFreedom.com
• Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgefreedom/
• Let's talk: https://cal.com/georgefreedom

📜 License:

Copyright (c) 2025 Jiří Svoboda (George Freedom) / George Freedom Tech

This work (educational materials, including text, explanations, exercises, and accompanying code examples within the Jupyter Notebooks) is licensed under:

• Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

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We build for the future!