CS377: Database Design - RESTful Web Services to Map to CRUD Functionality

Activity Goals

The goals of this activity are:
  1. To integrate a Flask web service with a NoSQL database

Supplemental Reading

Feel free to visit these resources for supplemental background reading material.

The Activity

Directions

Consider the activity models and answer the questions provided. First reflect on these questions on your own briefly, before discussing and comparing your thoughts with your group. Appoint one member of your group to discuss your findings with the class, and the rest of the group should help that member prepare their response. Answer each question individually from the activity on the Class Activity Questions discussion board. After class, think about the questions in the reflective prompt and respond to those individually in your notebook. Report out on areas of disagreement or items for which you and your group identified alternative approaches. Write down and report out questions you encountered along the way for group discussion.

Model 1: Creating a RESTful Web Service in Python with Flask

SQLyHTTP

Questions

  1. The URL bindings to each function look similar from function to function; what differentiates them and what actions each function takes?
  2. What HTTP methods (or verbs) do you see in this program? To what part of the CRUD model does each correspond?
  3. What happens if you request a person ID that doesn't exist?
  4. Investigate what it means to be a RESTful web service?
  5. Investigate how to use curl to invoke these web services.
  6. How would you modify this example to incorporate a NoSQL database backend? How about a relational database backend?

Embedded Code Environment

You can try out some code examples in this embedded development environment! To share this with someone else, first have one member of your group make a small change to the file, then click "Open in Repl.it". Log into your Repl.it account (or create one if needed), and click the "Share" button at the top right. Note that some embedded Repl.it projects have multiple source files; you can see those by clicking the file icon on the left navigation bar of the embedded code frame. Share the link that opens up with your group members. Remember only to do this for partner/group activities!

Model 2: Making a Web Service Client Request

Questions

  1. How might you make an HTTP get request to retrieve the set of people from your example web service?
  2. Investigate how to add authentication to an HTTP request.
  3. How would you make these requests using curl?

Submission

Submit your answers to the questions using the Class Activity Questions discussion board. You may also respond to questions or comments made by others, or ask follow-up questions there. Answer any reflective prompt questions in the Reflective Journal section of your OneNote Classroom personal section.