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What is FastAPI

FastAPI is a modern, fast (high-performance), web framework for building APIs with Python 3.6+ based on standard Python type hints.

Key Features​

  • Fast: FastAPI is one of the fastest frameworks for building APIs with Python, only behind Starlette and Uvicorn (used internally). This framework is significantly faster than traditional frameworks and can handle more HTTP requests per second with lesser latency.

  • Quick Code: FastAPI can reduce the time taken to code by approximately 40%-60%. It does so by reducing the duplication of code and by automatically handling many aspects, such as data conversion, data validation, and documentation.

  • Easy: FastAPI is designed to be easy to use while being highly efficient. The learning curve is shallow, allowing even beginners to start developing right away.

  • Standards-based: FastAPI is based on (and fully compatible with) the open standards for APIs, including OpenAPI (formerly known as Swagger) and JSON Schema.

  • Pythonic: FastAPI is very intuitive and ensures that the code remains easy to read, making it particularly suitable for Python developers.

Why Choose FastAPI?​

FastAPI takes full advantage of Python 3.6 type declarations. By doing so, it can do some pretty impressive things:

  1. Data Validation: By using Python type hints, FastAPI validates the incoming requests to your Python functions and automatically sends errors when the data is invalid.

  2. Data Serialization: FastAPI automatically converts your Python functions' output into JSON format.

  3. Automatic API Documentation: With FastAPI, the API documentation is automatically generated and interactive. This makes it easier for anyone to understand and use your API.

  4. Authentication & Authorization: FastAPI has built-in support for OAuth2 authentication using JWT tokens. It also supports dependencies that can manage roles and permissions.

  5. Asynchronous Requests: FastAPI supports asynchronous request handling, meaning it can handle many concurrent connections, making it perfect for real-time applications.

Conclusion​

FastAPI is a powerful and intuitive tool for developing APIs with Python. It makes it easy to build robust, standards-based APIs while ensuring your code remains clean and easy to maintain. Its speed, flexibility, and automatic features make it an excellent choice for both beginner and experienced developers.

In the following articles, we will dive deeper into FastAPI, exploring its features and how to use them effectively to build your own APIs.