Getting Started – Prerequisites

Before diving into the setup, ensure your development environment meets the following requirements. These tools and versions guarantee compatibility with the tutorial’s examples and commands.

Component Minimum Version Purpose
Python 3.8 Language runtime; targeted by tutorial
pip 19.0+ Python package installer
virtualenv Latest Isolates project dependencies
SQLite Built-in Default lightweight database (no install)
Internet – Fetch dependencies from PyPI

Python 3.8 ⚙️

Python 3.8 is the sole supported interpreter in this tutorial. All examples use python3.8, and commands reference pip3.8.

  • Check your version:
  python3.8 --version

pip & virtualenv 🔧

We manage packages via pip and isolate them using virtualenv. This prevents system-wide conflicts and keeps dependencies local to the project.

  1. Install virtualenv with the Python 3.8 pip:
   pip3.8 install virtualenv
   virtualenv venv --python=python3.8
  1. Activate your virtual environment:
  2. macOS/Linux:
     source venv/bin/activate
  • Windows (PowerShell):
     venv\Scripts\activate.bat
  1. Inside the activated environment, install dependencies:
   pip install Flask
   pip install Flask-RESTful
   pip install Flask-JWT
   pip install Flask-SQLAlchemy

Internet Connectivity 🌐

An active internet connection is required to:

  • Download packages from PyPI via pip.
  • Retrieve the Postman collection JSON (optional) for testing your API.

SQLite (Built-in)

This tutorial uses SQLite as the database engine.

  • Python’s standard library includes SQLite support out-of-the-box.
  • No separate install is necessary.
  • The database file (data.db) is created automatically on first run.

Once all prerequisites are met, you’re ready to proceed to the project setup and explore the REST API implementation.