What is Flask?

Introduction

Flask is a web development framework developed in Python. It is easy to learn and use. Flask is “beginner-friendly” because it does not have boilerplate code or dependencies, which can distract from the primary function of an application.

Origins of Flask

Flask originated in 2004 when a developer named Armin Ronacher created it as an April Fool’s joke. However, it quickly gained popularity in the open-source community anyway. Consequently, it developed into a popular open-source project and gained a massive following, which it maintains today.

Features of Flask

Some features which make Flask an ideal framework for web application development are:

1. Flask provides a development server and a debugger.
2. It uses Jinja2 templates.
3. It is compliant with WSGI 1.0.
4. It provides integrated support for unit testing.
5. Many extensions are available for Flask, which can be used to enhance its functionalities.

What is a micro-framework?

Micro-frameworks are the opposite of full-stack frameworks, which also offer additional modules for features such as authentication, database ORM, input validation and sanitization, etc.

Why is Flask called a micro-framework?

Flask is known as a micro-framework because it is lightweight and only provides components that are essential. It only provides the necessary components for web development, such as routing, request handling, sessions, and so on. For the other functionalities such as data handling, the developer can write a custom module or use an extension. This approach avoids unnecessary boilerplate code, which is not even being used.