[SOLVED] How to convert a python program into a REST API using Django?

Hi dear programmers,

If you have successfully made a python program and want to wrap it within Django, to make an HTTP Server, so that it can be accessed from different sources like Android/iOS apps, websites, or system applications(such as Windows/Linux/Mac), then you have come to the right place.

So, without much ado, let’s get started!

I am assuming you have a .py file(or a python project) ready with you which accepts some input and returns some output.

Below are the steps you need to follow to make a REST API using Django:

Step 1: Install Django
Type this command in cmd/Terminal to install Django.

1	pip install django

Step 2: Create a Django project
Go to a folder where you want to create Django project and run the below command. You can change mysite to whatever you would like to keep your website’s name.

1	django-admin startproject mysite

You should now have a project structure similar to this:

mysite/
    manage.py
    mysite/
        __init__.py
        settings.py
        urls.py
        wsgi.py

Step 3: Add your .py file(or python project) to the Django project just created
Go inside the outer mysite folder. You should see manage.py and the inner mysite folder.
Create a Django app by running this command at this location in cmd/Terminal.

1	python manage.py startapp myapp

Go inside mysite/myapp folder. Create a new folder here, named my_python_project. Now paste your .py file(or the contents of your python project) inside this folder.

Step 4: Configure the Django app
Open mysite/mysite/settings.py in an editor.
Add myapp in the INSTALLED APPS list. It should now look like this:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'myapp'
]

Add 'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware' and 'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware' in MIDDLEWARE list in the same order. It should now look like this:

MIDDLEWARE = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

Save and close this file.

Open mysite/mysite/urls.py and paste the below code in it.

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import include, path

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('myapp/', include('myapp.urls')),
]

Save and close this file.

Step 5: Configure your python project
Open mysite/myapp/urls.py and paste the below code in it.

from django.urls import path

from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.index, name='index'),
]

Open mysite/myapp/views.py and paste the below code in it.
Also, read the commented instructions in the code carefully and accordingly make changes in the code.

from django.shortcuts import render
from django.http import HttpResponse
from django.views.decorators.csrf import csrf_exempt
import json
# I am importing the 'askDoctor' function defined in 'getPrescription.py' file inside 'mysite/myapp/my_python_project' folder.
# In your case, name of file(getPrescription.py) and function(askDoctor) will be different.
from .my_python_project.getPrescription import askDoctor

@csrf_exempt
def index(request):
 if request.method == 'POST':
        # Accepting POST request from the user
  body_unicode = request.body.decode('utf-8')
  body = json.loads(body_unicode)

        # I am expecting a key,value pair where key is 'question'. Ofcourse, you may expect something else, so change accordingly.
  question = body['question']

        # I am passing user's question(data in HTTP request) to my imported function and storing result in 'answers' variable. 
        # In your case, function will be different.
  answers = askDoctor(question)

        # Structuring the response into a json
  result = []

  resDict = {
  'question': question,
  'answers': answers
  }

  result.append(resDict)

  json_result = json.dumps({"result":result})

        # Sending HTTP response back to the user
  return HttpResponse(json_result)
 else:
  return HttpResponse("Error! Not a valid request.")

I named my main .py file as getPrescription.py and created askDoctor function in it which accepts a ‘question’ and returns an ‘answer’. Your implementation will be similar to this. So, change the code accordingly.

Step 6: Run your HTTP Server
Go to outer mysite folder and run

1	python manage.py runserver

Your server will run at http://127.0.0.1:8000

Thanks for reading! Happy coding :)

Further Reading
This blog is the result of my attempt to implement this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9kbZ5I8gdM) by Siraj Raval. After watching this video I came to know about this github repository(https://github.com/re-search/DocProduct).

After a few attempts, I was sure that this model cannot be converted into a .tflite file as it was a custom(or nested) model. Because there is no such function in Keras or Tensorflow to convert a custom model into a .tflite file as of now.

So, I decided to implement it in its own environment(i.e. python). To achieve this, first of all, I created a Django web server on my local computer. After doing the testing, I purchased an 8GB RAM(Ubuntu 16.04LTS) server on Linode (https://linode.com) and hosted my app there.

Then I made an Android app in java and used Volley library to make HTTP calls.

And finally, I decided to help out others who were wondering how to implement this.

I Hope, you enjoy this blog!

Buy Me a Coffee - https://www.buymeacoffee.com/agautam

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[SOLVED] How to convert a python program into a REST API using Django?

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