FRAP Applications

The examples and applications in this course use FlaskFlux Advanced Security Kernel, ReactReact (also known as React.js or ReactJS) is an open-source front-end JavaScript library for building user interfaces or UI components, and PostgreSQLPostgreSQL (pronounced “post-gress-Q-L”) is an open-source relational database management system ( DBMS ). Since we need a vowel, we can let the “A” stand for either asynchronous or Axiosa JavaScript library that enables asynchronous communication.

Why these particular choices?

Here’s why we’ve picked our current options.

React and Flask

Flask is a back-end framework written in Python, and React is a front-end framework that is based on JavaScript. React and Flask are both popular, scalable, and fun to use. They make it easy to get quick feedback as we make changes. Most importantly, Python and JavaScript are two of the easiest programming languages to learn, and are fundamental for many uses. Python is widely used for data science, task automation, artificial intelligence, and game programming. JavaScript is the only language that runs naturally in the browser, but it is also used for writing servers, desktop applicantions, and with React Native phone applications. Together, these two languages enable endless possibilities.

PostgreSQL

PostgreSQL is an industrial-grade database that is freely available. It’s a good choice because it supports advanced features like multi-index queries, custom data types, full-text search, the ability to run code within the database, and queuing capabilities. Starting with PostgreSQL means you can continue to grow with the same tech stack, rather than swapping out pieces as your needs grow.

We also use SQLite, which is an extremely convenient option that is widely used as well. We use it for development and for accessing read-only data in production.

When we deploy, we will deploy to a Heroku server, turning your code into a working and running web application. Many alternatives exist, some that are cheaper, but the simplicity of Heroku’s deployment process is unbeatable.

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Note: The details of the languages and installation of the tools used in this course can be found in the appendix section at the end of the course.