Day 1 - RBAC Python Flask Web Framework Installation and Virtual Environment Creation

Welcome to Day 1 of your journey into Role Based Access Control (RBAC) Python web development with Flask! Today, we'll cover the essential steps for installing Python, setting up a virtual environment, and installing Flask along with some useful dependencies.

Setting Up Virtual Environment

A virtual environment is an isolated environment where you can install Python packages without affecting the system-wide Python installation. Let's create one for our Flask project:

1. Create Virtual Environment: Open your terminal and run the following command to create a virtual environment named `venvrbac`:
    ```
    python3 -m venv venvrbac
    ```

2. Activate Virtual Environment (Linux/Mac): Once the virtual environment is created, you can activate it using the following command:
    ```
    source venvrbac/bin/activate
    ```

3. Activate Virtual Environment (Windows): If you're using Windows, activate the virtual environment with this command:
    ```
    venvrbac\Scripts\activate
    ```

Installing Flask

Now that we have our virtual environment set up, let's install Flask, a lightweight web framework for Python:

```
pip install flask
```

Flask provides a simple yet powerful framework for building web applications. With its flexibility and minimalistic design, it's an excellent choice for beginners and experienced developers alike.

Managing Environment Variables

Environment variables are often used to store sensitive information or configuration settings for your Flask application. To manage environment variables effortlessly, let's install `python-dotenv`:

```
pip install python-dotenv
```

`python-dotenv` allows you to define environment variables in a `.env` file, making it easier to manage configuration settings across different environments.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You've successfully set up your Python development environment, created a virtual environment for your Flask project, installed Flask, and learned how to manage environment variables with `python-dotenv`. With these foundational steps completed, you're well-equipped to start building your Flask web applications.

In the next lesson, we'll dive deeper into Flask and explore how to create our first Flask application. Stay tuned!

Happy coding!