AEAMcNett / sab-basic

Simple App Blueprint: Basic Edition (Python, Flask, PostgreSQL, et al. deployed on Heroku)

Simple App Blueprint: Basic

The Simple App Blueprint: Basic (dupped sab-basic) will help you get started with an easy to learn, yet powerful technology stack. A stack that you can have up and running in less than 5 minutes, so you can focus on making the real thing. It includes a database, shows how to insert and retreive info from that database, and have it all deployed on Heroku.

Technology Stack

• Language: Python
• Back-end Framework: Flask
• Front-end Framework: Bootstrap
• Database: PostgreSQL
• Hosting: Heroku
• Templating Engine: Jinja2
• Forms: WTForms
• Object-Relational-Mapper: SQLAlchemy
• Database Migrations: Alembic
• Styleguide checker: Flake8

Getting Started

Accelerate your next web project and start with this Simple App Blueprint for the basics. For now, this Getting Started how-to is for written for OSX.

1. Setup your development environment

1. Install virtualenv

   1. $ sudo pip install virtualenv

2. Install virtualenvwrapper

   1. $ sudo pip install virtualenvwrapper
   2. $ export WORKON_HOME=~/Envs
   3. $ mkdir -p $WORKON_HOME
   4. $ source /user/local/bin/virtualenvwrapper.sh

3. Clone the repository and create a working directory

   1. $ git clone [e-mail]:jelmerdejong/sab-basic.git
   2. $ git rm simple-basic projectname
   3. $ cd projectname

4. Create virtual environment

   1. $ mkvirtualenv projectname
   2. Update postactate file:
      1. $ nano $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/postactivate
      2. Add (and modify) the following line: cd ~/path/to/your/project
      3. Add: export APP_SETTINGS="config.DevelopmentConfig"

5. Install Packages

   1. pip install flask
   2. pip install flake psycopg2 Flask-SQLAlchemy Flask-Migrate WTForms flask_wtf gunicorn
   3. pip freeze > requirements.txt

2. Create GitHub and Heroku App and Repositories

1. Setup Github Repository

   1. Create a new repostitory in your Github account
   2. Change the remote origin to point to your new repository: $ git remote set-url origin https://github.com/USERNAME/NEW_REPO.git

2. Install Heroku Toolbelt and git it configured

   1. Follow https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/getting-started-with-python#set-up

3. Create Staging environment on Heroku

   1. $ heroku create projectname-staging
   2. $ git remote add staging https://git.heroku.com/projectname-staging.git
   3. $ heroku config:set APP_SETTINGS=config.StagingConfig --remote staging

4. Create Production environment on Heroku

   1. $ heroku create projectname-production
   2. $ git remote add production https://git.heroku.com/projectname-production.git
   3. $ heroku config:set APP_SETTINGS=config.ProductionConfig --remote production

3. Setup and Initialize Database

1. Setup local database

   1. Download and install Postgres.app
   2. Open Postgres.app and open psql
   3. Create new database:
      1. Run in psql: CREATE DATABASE projectname;
   4. Update local configuration:
      1. $ nano $VIRTUAL_ENV/bin/postactivate
      2. Add: export DATABASE_URL="postgresql://localhost/projectname"
   5. Restart environment: $ workon projectname

2. Initialize and run database migrations

   1. $ python manage.py db init
   2. $ python manage.py db migrate
   3. $ python manage.py db upgrade

3. Setup databases on Heroku

   1. Create databases:
      1. $ heroku addons:add heroku-postgresql:dev --app projectname-staging
      2. $ heroku addons:add heroku-postgresql:dev --app projectname-production
   2. Commit database migration and push to staging and live
      1. $ git commit -a -m "Database migrations"
      2. $ git push staging master
      3. $ git push production master
   3. Run database migrations:
      1. $ heroku run python manage.py db upgrade --app projectname-staging
      2. $ heroku run python manage.py db upgrade --app projectname-production

4. Deploy

1. Run locally

   1. Open Postgres.app
   2. $ workon projectname
   3. $ python manage.py runserver
   4. Open in your browser: http://localhost:5000/

2. Deploy and run on staging

   1. Push latest version to staging: $ git push staging master
   2. Open in your browser: https://projectname-staging.herokuapp.com/

3. Deploy and run on production

   1. Push latest version to production: $ git push production master
   2. Open in your browser: https://projectname-production.herokuapp.com/

Make it your own!

That was easy right? You are ready to go modify and built your next killer app. Few points to keep in mind:

1. Don't forget to commit your code and push to Github as backup ($ git push origin master)
2. Run $ flake8 projectname to get feedback on coding style
3. Deploy to staging as final test ($ git push staging master)
4. Finally: deploy to product ($ git push production master)

Thanks!

Thanks to Flaks by Example on Real Python, written by Cam Linke for the basics and learning me to do this.

Questions / Feedback?

If you have questions or feedback, do not hesitate to use the Issues tool in this repository.