π What is FastAPI?
FastAPI is a modern Python web framework used to build APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) quickly and efficiently.
It is especially popular for building:
- REST APIs
- Backend services
- Microservices
- Backend for web & mobile apps
FastAPI is built on top of:
- Starlette β for web handling (requests, responses, middleware)
- Pydantic β for data validation using Python type hints
π€ Why is it called FastAPI?
Because it is fast in two ways:
- Fast performance
- One of the fastest Python frameworks
- Comparable to Node.js and Go
- Uses async features (
async/await)
- Fast to develop
- Less code
- Automatic validation
- Auto-generated API documentation
π§ Why use FastAPI? (Key Benefits)
1οΈβ£ Easy to Learn (Pythonic)
- Uses standard Python type hints
- Clean and readable syntax
- Great for beginners moving from Flask
from fastapi import FastAPI
app = FastAPI()
@app.get("/")
def home():
return {"message": "Hello FastAPI"}
2οΈβ£ Automatic Data Validation
FastAPI validates request data automatically.
from pydantic import BaseModel
class User(BaseModel):
name: str
age: int
If wrong data is sent:
- FastAPI returns a clear error
- You donβt write validation code manually
3οΈβ£ Built-in Interactive API Docs π
No extra tools needed!
- Swagger UI β
/docs - ReDoc β
/redoc
π Perfect for learning and testing APIs.
4οΈβ£ Very High Performance β‘
- Built using ASGI
- Supports async / await
- Handles thousands of requests efficiently
Good for:
- Real-time apps
- High traffic APIs
5οΈβ£ Dependency Injection (Clean Code)
FastAPI has a powerful dependency system:
- Authentication
- Database connections
- Reusable logic
Example:
from fastapi import Depends
6οΈβ£ Production-Ready Features
Out of the box support for:
- Authentication (JWT, OAuth2)
- Middleware
- Background tasks
- CORS
- WebSockets
π FastAPI vs Flask vs Django (Quick View)
| Feature | FastAPI | Flask | Django |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | β‘ Very Fast | Medium | Medium |
| Async Support | β Yes | β No (native) | β οΈ Limited |
| Validation | β Automatic | β Manual | β οΈ Forms |
| API Docs | β Auto | β No | β No |
| Learning Curve | Easy | Easy | Steep |
π― When should you use FastAPI?
Use FastAPI if you want to:
- Build APIs (not full HTML websites)
- Create microservices
- Learn modern backend development
- Build scalable & high-performance apps
- Prepare for real-world backend jobs
Keep Learning π
