Recommendations of Python REST (web services) framework?

python web-services rest frameworks

241,263

Solution 1

Something to be careful about when designing a RESTful API is the conflation of GET and POST, as if they were the same thing. It's easy to make this mistake with Django's function-based views and CherryPy's default dispatcher, although both frameworks now provide a way around this problem (class-based views and MethodDispatcher, respectively).

HTTP-verbs are very important in REST, and unless you're very careful about this, you'll end up falling into a REST anti-pattern.

Some frameworks that get it right are web.py, Flask and Bottle. When combined with the mimerender library (full disclosure: I wrote it), they allow you to write nice RESTful webservices:

import web
import json
from mimerender import mimerender

render_xml = lambda message: '<message>%s</message>'%message
render_json = lambda **args: json.dumps(args)
render_html = lambda message: '<html><body>%s</body></html>'%message
render_txt = lambda message: message

urls = (
    '/(.*)', 'greet'
)
app = web.application(urls, globals())

class greet:
    @mimerender(
        default = 'html',
        html = render_html,
        xml  = render_xml,
        json = render_json,
        txt  = render_txt
    )
    def GET(self, name):
        if not name: 
            name = 'world'
        return {'message': 'Hello, ' + name + '!'}

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run()

The service's logic is implemented only once, and the correct representation selection (Accept header) + dispatch to the proper render function (or template) is done in a tidy, transparent way.

$ curl localhost:8080/x
<html><body>Hello, x!</body></html>

$ curl -H "Accept: application/html" localhost:8080/x
<html><body>Hello, x!</body></html>

$ curl -H "Accept: application/xml" localhost:8080/x
<message>Hello, x!</message>

$ curl -H "Accept: application/json" localhost:8080/x
{'message':'Hello, x!'}

$ curl -H "Accept: text/plain" localhost:8080/x
Hello, x!

Update (April 2012): added information about Django's class-based views, CherryPy's MethodDispatcher and Flask and Bottle frameworks. Neither existed back when the question was asked.

Solution 2

Surprised no one mentioned flask.

from flask import Flask
app = Flask(__name__)

@app.route("/")
def hello():
    return "Hello World!"

if __name__ == "__main__":
    app.run()

Solution 3

We're using Django for RESTful web services.

Note that -- out of the box -- Django did not have fine-grained enough authentication for our needs. We used the Django-REST interface, which helped a lot. [We've since rolled our own because we'd made so many extensions that it had become a maintenance nightmare.]

We have two kinds of URL's: "html" URL's which implement the human-oriented HTML pages, and "json" URL's which implement the web-services oriented processing. Our view functions often look like this.

def someUsefulThing( request, object_id ):
    # do some processing
    return { a dictionary with results }

def htmlView( request, object_id ):
    d = someUsefulThing( request, object_id )
    render_to_response( 'template.html', d, ... )

def jsonView( request, object_id ):
    d = someUsefulThing( request, object_id )
    data = serializers.serialize( 'json', d['object'], fields=EXPOSED_FIELDS )
    response = HttpResponse( data, status=200, content_type='application/json' )
    response['Location']= reverse( 'some.path.to.this.view', kwargs={...} )
    return response

The point being that the useful functionality is factored out of the two presentations. The JSON presentation is usually just one object that was requested. The HTML presentation often includes all kinds of navigation aids and other contextual clues that help people be productive.

The jsonView functions are all very similar, which can be a bit annoying. But it's Python, so make them part of a callable class or write decorators if it helps.

Solution 4

See Python Web Frameworks wiki.

You probably do not need the full stack frameworks, but the remaining list is still quite long.

Solution 5

Take a look at

View more solutions

241,263

Author by

McArthey

Updated on December 23, 2020

Comments

McArthey over 3 years

Is there a list somewhere of recommendations of different Python-based REST frameworks for use on the serverside to write your own RESTful APIs? Preferably with pros and cons.

Please feel free to add recommendations here. :)
Asela Liyanage almost 15 years

That's a nice example, but there's nothing RESTful about it.
Asela Liyanage almost 15 years

This is incorrect, Django has full support for recognizing POST vs GET and limiting views to only certain methods.
Martin Blech over 14 years

I meant that, by default, Django treats POST and GET as if they were the same thing, which is very inconvenient when you are doing RESTful services as it forces you to do: if request.method == 'GET': do_something() elif request.method == 'POST': do_something_else() web.py doesn't have that problem
Martin Blech over 14 years

@Wahnfrieden: If there is native support in Django for handling different HTTP verbs separately (by "native" I mean not needing "if request.method==X"), could you please point me to some documentation?
lilbyrdie over 14 years

@Wahnfrieden: Could you help the rest of us out by clarifying why you do not think the above is RESTful? From my point of view, it looks like a classic example of REST and doesn't appear to break any of the rules or constraints of a RESTful system.
verveguy over 14 years

In simple terms, what the CherryPy example above is doing is exposing methods as "HTTP callable" remote procedures. That's RPC. It's entirely "verb" oriented. RESTful architectures focus on the resources managed by a server and then offer a very limited set of operations on those resources: specifically, POST (create), GET (read), PUT (update) and DELETE (delete). The manipulation of these resources, in particular changing their state via PUT, is the key pathway whereby "stuff happens".
Andriy Drozdyuk about 14 years

I separated my rest-api into a different app (in django settings INSTALLED_APPS). Keeps you from having to do this weird view naming...
temoto almost 14 years

Awful repetition of d = someUsefulThing... Even Django guys suggest DRY.
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: If y = someUsefulThing(...) is an "Awful repetition", then all references to all functions and methods is "awful". I fail to understand how to avoid referencing a function more than once.
temoto almost 14 years

Please, be fair. I wasn't talking about function reference only. I quoted the statement, which includes expression which includes arguments. When you need to change arguments passed to someUsefulThing, there's a chance that one forgets to do so in all calls.
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: "When you need to change arguments passed to someUsefulThing, there's a chance that one forgets to do so in all calls"? What? How is that "awful"? That's a trivial consequence of referencing a function more than once. I'm failing to understand what you're talking about and how function reference is "awful" since it's inescapable.
temoto almost 14 years

See the accepted answer. The result expression {'message': 'Hello, ' + name + '!'} is written once for all presentations.
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: what? I can't understand your point. How is referencing a function more than once "awful". The code written "once and for all" uses the + function two times. Isn't that just as "awful" as using someUsefulThing two times? I cannot understand what distinction you are making. Can you clarify, please?
temoto almost 14 years

Your htmlView and jsonView functions serve different representations for same data, right? So someUsefulThing(request, object_id) is a data retrieval expression. Now you have two copies of same expression in different points in your program. In the accepted answer, the data expression is written once. Replace your someUsefulThing call with a long string, like paginate(request, Post.objects.filter(deleted=False, owner=request.user).order_by('comment_count')) and look at the code. I hope it will illustrate my point.
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: I guess you object to referencing some functions more than once. I can't understand that. Somehow someUsefulThing has a special status what + does not have. This appears to be based on the length of the name or the number of arguments or some other criteria which I can't discern.
temoto almost 14 years

Did you try to write that long expression? (twice in sibling functions) ?
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: Using a function more than once means that sometimes, the name of the function (however long) must get repeated. That's basically how function references work. The name gets repeated. As I showed in my answer, two places can reference a function and the name will get repeated. I understand that you object to this, but my example shows repeating a long expression. I can't find a problem with it because I don't know what the problem is.
temoto almost 14 years

Okay, i guess it needs paper and visual contact to explain my point.
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: All it needs is a clear definition of why function references are so evil. someUsefulThing cannot be used twice. + can be used twice. Please provide some distinction that allows be to determine what functions can be used twice and what functions can't be used twice. If it's so complex that it can't be defined in a sentence, then post it to your blog.
temoto almost 14 years

You keep repeating that it's about function references. I keep repeating that it's not. Yes, many function references is fine (like we use unicode and min so many times, it's fine). Many duplicate expressions is not (like repeating "debug: " + str(this), this is evil). Do you understand difference between str and "debug: " + str(foo) ?
user1066101 almost 14 years

@temoto: "Do you understand difference between str and "debug: " + str(foo) ?" Apparently not. Somehow one expression is bad and one expression is good. I cannot see what rule or metric or principle separates one from the other. They're expressions. One expression is acceptable to you and one is not acceptable to you. I cannot discern how you are making this decision. I cannot parse any rule -- it appears like a random decision to me. Please provide a clear definition that I can use without resorting to asking you which is better.
temoto almost 14 years

str does not evaluate to useful expression. str(arguments) does. In some other language (i.e. C or Java) the former would not even be an expression.
ncoghlan over 12 years

The conflation of POST and GET does not apply to Django's Class Based Views (added in 1.3), but I believe is valid for the earlier releases.
Derek Litz over 12 years

Answer is incorrect about CherryPy. From Docs: "REST (Representational State Transfer) is an architectural style that is well-suited to implementation in CherryPy." - docs.cherrypy.org/dev/progguide/REST.html
milovanderlinden about 12 years

The links mentioned are no longer available
Anthony about 12 years

The links have been updated - try again.
Buttons840 about 12 years

Many of the top answers to this question provide examples. An example would be nice for this answer.
Petrus Theron about 12 years

Can you decouple the route configuration ('/') from the function like in web.py?
dumbmatter about 12 years

Yes, you can decouple them: flask.pocoo.org/docs/api/#flask.Flask.add_url_rule
Martin Blech about 12 years

Flask wasn't out there when the question was asked...
Chris Morgan about 12 years

Django's class-based views which were introduced in 1.3 deal with method differentiation well.
Martin Blech about 12 years

@ChrisMorgan: got it, I have updated the answer to reflect this new feature.
michel.iamit over 11 years

Especially the browesable interface is saving a lot of time while developing! Many other advantages, so everyone starting rest implementation should have a look. I started with tastypie, but switched completely to django-rest-framework
tabdulradi over 11 years

You can write more RESTfull APIs using CherryPy docs.cherrypy.org/stable/progguide/REST.html
Alex Bitek about 11 years

Flask doesn't work with Python 3.x
eric.frederich about 11 years

@MartinBlech would you mine updating this example so it works with your latest from Git?
Sean Vieira almost 11 years

Flask.dev now supports Python 3
Asken over 10 years

@MartinBlech I can't get it to work either. Adding @mimerender (... gives me mimerender is not callable
mb21 over 10 years

Flask supports Python 3.3 or higher.
mVChr over 10 years

I had to create a complete REST API in a single night for a project I was working on after already working a full day at my job. I went with Flask after reading this question and finding this article and was able to knock it out of the park while still getting a full night's sleep once I was done. Thank you.
avi over 10 years

noob here, how this is a RESTful?
Calvin over 10 years

With Pyramid you can make use of Cornice, which provides useful helpers for building and documenting REST web services.
user161642 over 10 years

Check out flask-restful.readthedocs.org/en/latest for a Flask plugin to help with implementing a REST API in Flask.