This article guides readers through the process of building a scalable Flask web application with HarperDB as the backend database and deploying it on the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) using GitHub Actions. The tutorial covers the following steps:
- Introduction: The article highlights the importance of scalable web applications and introduces the technologies used: Flask, HarperDB, and GCP.
- Prerequisites: It lists the prerequisites for the project, including familiarity with Flask, Python, GCP, HarperDB, Git/GitHub, Docker, and GitHub Actions.
- Setting up HarperDB: Readers are guided through creating a HarperDB account and instance, with a choice between a cloud-managed instance or installing it on a private server.
- Creating a Python Project: The tutorial demonstrates building a Flask application that interacts with HarperDB using the HarperDB Python SDK for CRUD operations.
- Creating and Exposing REST APIs: The Flask app is expanded with various REST API endpoints for adding, updating, deleting movies, adding reviews, and fetching movie details.
- Frontend: A simple HTML page and JavaScript code are provided as a basic frontend interface to interact with the Flask app.
- Dockerization: Dockerizing the Flask app is explained, making it container-ready for deployment.
- CI/CD Workflow with GitHub Actions: A GitHub Actions workflow is created to automate building the Docker image, pushing it to Google Container Registry (GCR), and deploying it to Google Cloud Run.
- Security Considerations: The article briefly touches on security considerations for HarperDB, Flask, and GCP deployments.
- Troubleshooting: Common issues and solutions related to the Flask app, HarperDB, and the CI/CD pipeline are discussed.
- Conclusion: The tutorial concludes by encouraging readers to further enhance the app, seek discussions, and engage with the author.
Overall, the article offers a comprehensive walkthrough for creating a Flask app with HarperDB integration and deploying it on GCP using GitHub Actions. It covers multiple aspects from setting up the database to building a user interface and ensuring proper security measures.
