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Friday, December 13, 2019

Easy Python Web App Creation with Web2Py


There are a lot of ways to create a web based application in Python. I have tried quite a few out and my number one pick is Web2Py. It has all of the bells and whistles already built in. You can start out with a simple scaffolding app that is ready to run and modify it to learn how the system works.

You don't have to be a programmer or web developer to use Web2Py. You will just be ahead of the game a bit if you know some Python and/or some web technologies. Web2Py is a "free open source full-stack framework for rapid development of fast, scalable, secure and portable database-driven web-based applications".

The Web2Py web page is easy to navigate and very comprehensive. Everything you need to learn to use this framework is available from their front page. There are plenty of examples, tutorials, and a very comprehensive manual available.

Everything you need to build a simple web app up to an enterprise level system is built in. As they state, everything you need and "batteries included". Web2Py even includes a web based IDE along with an SQL database system. And one Web2Py instance can run multiple web apps.

Getting started is fairly easy. There are binary packages available for Mac and Windows systems that are ready to run. They even included a web server and Python 2.7.

For those with a little more familiarity with web systems just download the source code and install to your web server. You will need Python installed. You can choose Python 2.7 or 3.5+. It really is an easy to setup and run framework.

If you would like to have it available online and not installed on your own system, check out PythonAnywhere. It is a very easy to use system to host and run your own python code in the cloud. For a quick tryout of Web2Py and PythonAnywhere, try out their PythonAnywhere/Web2Py sampler wizard.

Web2Py really is a quick and easy way to get started with web app development using Python. I'm thinking of doing an article on setting up Python and Web2Py on a XAMPP development system. If you are interested, please leave a note.

I could also do articles on Progressive Web Apps with Web2Py and setting up your Python development environment on PythonAnywhere. Please let me know if you are interested by leaving a note.

Note: PythonAnywhere is a great system for teachers who are teaching Python programming.