Introduction to Bocadillo

Bocadillo is a fast and modern Python web framework designed to help developers build lightweight APIs and web applications efficiently. Whether you’re building a simple JSON API or a more complex web app, Bocadillo makes the process seamless by providing an easy-to-use interface, excellent performance, and support for asynchronous programming. In this guide, we’ll explore the fundamentals of Bocadillo and introduce its key APIs with accompanying examples to showcase its flexibility and power.

Why Bocadillo?

Bocadillo is designed with simplicity and speed in mind. It is built on top of ASGI (Asynchronous Server Gateway Interface), which ensures optimal performance compared to traditional WSGI frameworks. Here are some of the key features of Bocadillo:

• Asynchronous support for blazing-fast performance.
• Ease of use with a concise and developer-friendly API.
• Out-of-the-box support for WebSocket communication.
• Lightweight and modular architecture for flexibility.

Getting Started

Installing Bocadillo is straightforward. Simply use pip:

  pip install bocadillo

Key APIs and Examples

Below are some of Bocadillo’s most useful APIs, along with code snippets and explanations.

Defining Routes

Defining endpoints in Bocadillo is extremely simple. Here’s an example of defining a simple route:

  from bocadillo import App

  app = App()

  @app.route("/")
  async def homepage(req, res):
      res.text = "Welcome to Bocadillo!"
  

Handling Query Parameters

Bocadillo makes it easy to work with query parameters:

  @app.route("/greet")
  async def greet(req, res):
      name = req.query_params.get("name", "Guest")
      res.text = f"Hello, {name}!"
  

Handling JSON Payloads

Working with JSON data is straightforward in Bocadillo:

  @app.route("/json")
  async def json_example(req, res):
      data = await req.json()
      message = data.get("message", "No message sent")
      res.json = {"received": message}
  

Middleware

Bocadillo supports middleware for processing requests and responses:

  @app.middleware
  async def add_custom_header(req, res, next):
      await next()
      res.headers["X-Custom-Header"] = "CustomValue"
  

WebSocket Support

Bocadillo offers native support for WebSockets:

  @app.websocket_route("/ws")
  async def websocket_example(ws):
      await ws.send_text("Hello WebSocket!")
      data = await ws.receive_text()
      await ws.send_text(f"Echo: {data}")
  

Complete Bocadillo App Example

Let’s combine everything we’ve learned into a complete Bocadillo app:

  from bocadillo import App

  app = App()

  @app.route("/")
  async def homepage(req, res):
      res.text = "Welcome to Bocadillo!"

  @app.route("/greet")
  async def greet(req, res):
      name = req.query_params.get("name", "Guest")
      res.text = f"Hello, {name}!"

  @app.route("/json")
  async def json_example(req, res):
      data = await req.json()
      res.json = {"data": data}

  @app.websocket_route("/ws")
  async def websocket_example(ws):
      await ws.send_text("Hello WebSocket!")
      data = await ws.receive_text()
      await ws.send_text(f"Echo: {data}")

  @app.middleware
  async def add_header(req, res, next):
      await next()
      res.headers["X-Example-Header"] = "PoweredByBocadillo"

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

Conclusion

Bocadillo is an excellent framework for building modern and efficient web APIs. It supports asynchronous programming, JSON handling, WebSockets, and middleware, making it a powerful yet lightweight tool for developers. With the practical examples provided above, you can now start building APIs and applications using Bocadillo.

If you enjoyed this guide, feel free to share it with others and start exploring the capabilities of Bocadillo!