Python on the Backend

Name: Python on the Backend
Rating: 4.4 (1256 reviews)

Learn python back end development, build a website or APIs in Python, designed for students with Mac or Windows

Created byHussein Nasser

Last updated 2/2024

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Build cool web applications and APIs for other clients to consume
Learn how to serve a basic website with Python as the back end
Turn your existing Python libraries into web APIs to be consumed by other developers with other languages
Install, use and deploy Jupyter Notebooks
Learn how to Implement Load Balancing for your Backend Python services
Learn Backend Database programming with Python and PostgresSQL: connect, query, write and commit transactions.

Coding Exercises

This course includes our updated coding exercises so you can practice your skills as you learn.

Course content

10 sections • 34 lectures • 4h 22m total length

Why Backend Development?6:01
Course Outline4:23

What is Python?1:18
Explore what Python is by comparing compiled and interpreted languages, examining the Python interpreter and the global interpreter lock, and understanding how these basics help you use Python effectively.
The Python Interpreter3:29
Explore how CPython converts Python source files into bytecode and interprets it step by step, clarifying that Python is mostly interpreted and lacks just-in-time compilation.
Compiled vs Interpreted Languages7:27
Compare compiled and interpreted languages, detailing compilers, executables, and CPU targets, with interpreters running source via runtimes like Python or the JVM.
Global Interpreter Lock4:10
In multi-threaded environments this becomes challenging as only one interpreter can run code at a given time and we need a mutex to protect the state.

Setup Python3 on Mac2:52
Install python 3 on mac from python.org, verify the 3.x executable in the terminal, and set up pip and Visual Studio Code debugger for a smooth workflow.
Installing Tornado the Python HTTP Web Server on Mac1:00
Install Python 3 on Mac, open the terminal, and run pip3 install Tornado to set up the Tornado web server for writing Python backend code.
Installing Visual Studio Code and Python Extension on Mac4:02
Install Visual Studio Code on Mac and the Python extension to enable debugging and syntax highlighting, then set the Python interpreter to 3.x and run a hello world.

Setup Python3 on Windows2:26
Download and install Python 3.7 on Windows from Python.org and enable add to path. Install pip and verify with python --version.
Installing Tornado the Python HTTP Web Server on Windows1:00
Install tornado on Windows via the command prompt after confirming pip is installed, then you are ready to write your own Python backend web server.
Installing Visual Studio Code and Python Extension on Windows6:01
Install Visual Studio Code and the Python extension on Windows, create a simple hello world program, and learn to debug, with syntax highlighting and autocomplete to streamline Python development.

HTTP Protocol4:20
Learn how the HTTP protocol enables client-server communication through text requests and responses, using headers and methods like GET and POST to access or modify resources.
Building a simple GET HTTP method end point in Python9:55
Build a simple Python get endpoint with Tornado to return a basic text response on port 8882, using a basic request handler and an IO loop.
Serving a simple HTML file from Python Web Server (Index.html)4:17
Learn how to serve a static HTML file from a Python web server using render, and create a simple get endpoint to return index.html with proper headers and content type.

Query Parameter vs Resource Parameter3:12
Learn how clients send data to servers using query parameters in URLs and resource parameters as sub-resources, with examples like YouTube video IDs and user status.
Building a GET end point with a query string parameter4:33
Building a GET end point with resource parameters7:11
Build a get endpoint with resource parameters in the URI to capture student id, student name, and course name with regular expressions, then return data to the user.

Building a JSON GET endpoint that reads from a text file on the backend3:37
Develop a JSON get endpoint on the backend that reads a fruits list from a text file, splits lines into an array, and returns it as JSON.
Building a JSON POST endpoint that writes to a text file on the backend6:33
Build a json post endpoint in python on the backend that appends received fruit data to a text file, using query parameters, testing with postman.

Consuming the GET and POST API from Javascript/HTML15:35
Expose a Python API via get and post to JavaScript and HTML clients, and render data from the API as JSON on a web page.
Building an Image Upload Service with Python13:17

In this video we learn how to build a fully functional web server with upload file capability using python. There are two parts, the client index.html which asks the user to browse for a file and the server back-end python side where it accepts the file and saves it on the server.
Spin three instances of tornado running on 3 different ports

What is Jupyter nootbook?9:08
Jupyter notebook is a server side execution engine exposed over HTTP and consumed from a browser or any thin client. Different outputs from the server execution can be displayed such as text, markdown, charts and much more.
Jupyter supports multiple kernels mainly famous one is python. You can create a notebook which consists of multiple cells. Each cell can be either a code that your write and run on the server, or mark down.
Jupyter notebook grown popular for machine learning where you can execute long running jobs and train models on the server
Installing Jupyter Notebook on Mac4:23
In this lecture we will discuss how to install Jupyter notebook on mac
Installing Jupyter Notebook on Windows4:21
In this lecture we will discuss how to install Jupyter notebook on Windows
Installing Jupyter Notebook on Docker2:54
In this lecture we will discuss how to install Jupyter notebook on docker
Working with Jupyter Notebook (Twitter example)10:00
In this lecture we will learn how to run and build our first jupyter notebook using a simple twitter example.

Load Balancing Python services with nginx15:39
In this lecture we will learn more about load balancing and we will use nginx to balance the incoming requests to multiple python services.
Spinning Postgres Instance with Docker13:35
Learn how to spin a postgres database on docker so we can use read and write.
Database programming with Python18:09
In this lecture you will learn how to connect, query and write data to PostgresSQL using psycopg2
Working with MySQL in Python20:49
Connect a Python script to a MySQL database using the standard api, creating a connection and cursor. Perform parameterized queries, insert and fetch records, and manage commits and connection closing.
Python and Postgres Server Side vs Client Side Cursors17:07
Stateless vs Stateful Web Applications in Python14:41
Source Code: https://github.com/hnasr/python_playground/tree/master/stateful_stateless
Django Architecture15:09
Explore how Django architecture uses an orm-backed backend and persistent connections to manage database queries within a three-tier architecture, while examining the one-connection-per-thread constraint, http/tls, and context switching on performance.

Requirements

Able to understand basic programming principles

Description

Do you know Python and want to take it to the next level? How about writing a website in Python, or an API so your fellow developers can consume in JSON over simple HTTP. With the boom of microservices and API, developers who are used to working with Python writing scripts can now take their knowledge to the backend. This course will teach you the basic of web servers, how to setup the Python Web server and write interesting cool applications on the backend. By the end of the course you will be read to take on the world and write your own services and APIs, read and write from databases, do sophisticated load balancing on your Python services, work with Jupyter notebooks and much much more!

Who this course is for:

Beginner Python developers interested in building HTTP web APIs in Python
Experienced Python developers who want to expose their Python libraries as a web service for other developers
Data scientists who want to do heavy computational workload on the backend using vanilla Python or Jupyter notebooks
Developers who want to use Python to build APIs that write to a backend database

Python on the Backend

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Coding Exercises

Course content

Introduction2 lectures • 10min

What is Python?4 lectures • 16min

Getting Started Setup (Mac)3 lectures • 8min

Getting Started Setup (Windows)3 lectures • 9min

Building the Python HTTP Web Server3 lectures • 19min

Input Parameters to Python API3 lectures • 15min

Building Dynamic POST and GET JSON HTTP APIs2 lectures • 10min

Consuming Python API from Javascript2 lectures • 29min

Jupyter Notebooks5 lectures • 31min

Bonus Section - Python and the Database, Docker Load balancing and more!7 lectures • 1hr 55min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: