How to Build a Backend for Python?

introduction in this step by step tutorial, you’ll learn how to build a complete backend for python applications using back4app we’ll walk through integrating essential back4app features—such as database management, cloud code functions, rest and graphql apis, user authentication, and real time queries—to create a secure, scalable, and robust backend that seamlessly communicates with your python code python is a popular choice among programming languages for backend development because it offers simplicity and the ability to maintain the server side with ease frameworks and libraries like django, flask, and more have long made python a go to for web development processes by leveraging back4app, a python developer can quickly set up database schema, ensure data integrity, and even incorporate machine learning tasks without having to manage complex infrastructure along the way, you’ll gain hands on experience with key functionalities, such as advanced security features, scheduling tasks with cloud jobs, and setting up webhooks for external integrations by the end of this tutorial, you’ll be well prepared to enhance this foundational structure into a production ready python backend application or easily integrate with other tools like docker and kubernetes as your project scales this will jump start your python backend development journey by using a reliable platform and robust python libraries prerequisites to complete this tutorial, you will need a back4app account and a new back4app project getting started with back4app https //www back4app com/docs/get started/new parse app sign up for free if you haven’t already and create a new project python 3 x installed make sure you have python 3 x set up on your machine download python https //www python org/downloads/ the parse python sdk install via pip with pip install parse rest we’ll use this sdk for data interactions familiarity with basic python concepts if you’re new to python, review the official python documentation https //docs python org/3/ or a beginner’s tutorial having these prerequisites in place will ensure you can follow along as we explore how to build a backend for python on back4app step 1 – setting up back4app project create a new project the first step in building your python backend on back4app is creating a new project if you have not already created one, follow these steps log in to your back4app account click the “new app” button in your back4app dashboard give your app a name (e g , “python backend tutorial”) once the project is created, you will see it listed in your back4app dashboard this project will be the foundation for all backend configurations discussed in this tutorial connect the parse sdk back4app relies on the parse platform to manage your data, provide real time features, handle user authentication, and more to connect your python code to back4app, you must install the relevant parse sdk and initialize it with the credentials from your back4app dashboard retrieve your parse keys in your back4app dashboard, navigate to your app’s app settings or security & keys section to find your application id and rest api key you will also find the parse server url (often https //parseapi back4app com ) install the parse rest python sdk pip install parse rest initialize parse in your python script typically, you would create a file (e g , parse config py ) in your project parse config py # parse config py from parse rest connection import register \# replace the placeholders with your back4app credentials application id = "your application id" rest api key = "your rest api key" parse server url = "https //parseapi back4app com" \# the register function initializes the connection register(application id, rest api key, master key=none) this code ensures that whenever you import your parse config module elsewhere in your python application, it is pre configured to connect to your specific back4app instance you have now established a secure connection between your python code and the back4app backend step 2 – setting up the database a robust database schema is essential for python backend development back4app’s data management features let you define tables (classes), fields, and relationships, ensuring you can easily store and retrieve data in your python web framework or any other python libraries you choose creating a data model back4app automatically creates class schemas when you first save an object from code, or you can define a schema in the dashboard navigate to the “database” section in your back4app dashboard create a new class (e g , “todo”) and add relevant columns, such as title (string) and iscompleted (boolean) creating a data model using the ai agent back4app’s ai agent can help you craft a database schema quickly open the ai agent from your app dashboard describe your data model in natural language (e g , “create a todo app with a complete class schema ”) let the ai agent generate your schema automatically reading and writing data using the python parse sdk once your schema is ready, saving and querying data is straightforward for example models py from parse rest datatypes import object import parse config # ensure parse config is imported class todo(object) pass def create todo item(title, is completed=false) new todo = todo(title=title, iscompleted=is completed) new todo save() print("todo saved successfully ", new todo objectid) def fetch todos() return todo query all() \# usage \# create todo item("buy groceries", false) \# results = fetch todos() \# for todo in results \# print(todo title, todo iscompleted) reading and writing data using rest api if you prefer to interact via rest, you can send requests directly curl x post \\ h "x parse application id your application id" \\ h "x parse rest api key your rest api key" \\ h "content type application/json" \\ d '{"title" "buy groceries", "iscompleted" false}' \\ https //parseapi back4app com/classes/todo reading and writing data using graphql api back4app also provides a graphql endpoint for querying and mutating data mutation { createtodo(input { fields { title "clean the house" iscompleted false } }) { todo { objectid title iscompleted } } } working with live queries (optional) live queries let you receive real time updates whenever data changes to enable them turn on live queries in your back4app server settings use a python websocket approach to subscribe to changes although the python sdk for live queries is community driven, you can integrate a websocket library if your application demands real time updates step 3 – applying security with acls and clps brief overview back4app provides access control lists (acls) and class level permissions (clps) to help you ensure data integrity these features define how public users or authenticated users can access or modify data setting up class level permissions go to your back4app dashboard , select your app, and open the database section select a class (e g , “todo”) go to class level permissions and configure rules for public or authenticated users configuring acls in code acls are fine grained permissions set on individual objects for instance from parse rest datatypes import object, acl from parse rest user import user import parse config class todoacl(object) pass def create private todo(title, owner) todo = todoacl(title=title) \# create acl that allows only the owner read/write acl = acl() acl set read access(owner objectid, true) acl set write access(owner objectid, true) todo acl = acl todo save() return todo with acls and clps, you can strike a balance between security and convenience when building your python applications step 4 – writing cloud code functions why cloud code cloud code allows you to offload important business logic to the server side this could involve validations, triggers, or sophisticated tasks like integrating machine learning tools or external apis with your python backend development example function you might write your functions in main js (javascript based cloud code) on back4app note that while you develop your application in python, the cloud code environment on back4app uses node js/javascript you can call these functions from your python code or any other client // main js parse cloud define("calculatetextlength", async (request) => { const { text } = request params; if (!text) { throw new error("no text provided"); } return { length text length }; }); you can call this function using python’s rest or graphql capabilities import requests def get text length(text) url = "https //parseapi back4app com/functions/calculatetextlength" headers = { "x parse application id" "your app id", "x parse rest api key" "your rest api key", "content type" "application/json" } response = requests post(url, headers=headers, json={"text" text}) data = response json() return data get("result", {}) \# usage length info = get text length("hello back4app") print(length info get("length")) deployment and npm back4app’s cloud code is deployed using the back4app cli https //www back4app com/docs/local development/parse cli or via the dashboard you can install npm packages (e g , for data manipulation, external api calls) and reference them in your main js this approach keeps your code efficient and secure on the server side step 5 – configuring authentication enable or set up user authentication back4app leverages the parse user class for authentication this automatically handles password hashing, session tokens, and more you can manage signups, logins, or password resets with minimal overhead sign up and log in from python from parse rest user import user import parse config def sign up user(username, password, email) new user = user signup(username, password, email=email) print("user signed up successfully ", new user objectid) return new user def log in user(username, password) logged user = user login(username, password) print("user logged in ", logged user username) return logged user sessions are automatically handled by parse you can track the logged in user and call logout() when needed for more details, consult the official user class docs https //www back4app com/docs/platform/users social login you can integrate popular providers (like facebook or google) by configuring oauth flows or using specialized adapters refer to social login docs https //www back4app com/docs/platform/sign in with apple for more details on setting up these features with your python project step 6 – handling file storage setting up file storage the parse platform includes native file storage import requests import parse config def upload file(file path) file name = file path split('/')\[ 1] url = f"https //parseapi back4app com/files/{file name}" headers = { "x parse application id" "your app id", "x parse rest api key" "your rest api key", "content type" "image/jpeg" # or other mime type } with open(file path, 'rb') as f response = requests post(url, headers=headers, data=f) return response json() get('url') example you can attach this file to a parse object by storing its url this keeps your data consistent while your media is safely hosted by back4app security considerations you can control who can upload or access files by configuring your parse server settings to only allow authenticated users, for example this approach ensures that your production python applications remain secure step 7 – email verification and password reset overview email verification and password resets are crucial for user management they help confirm user identities and maintain account security back4app dashboard configuration enable email verification in app settings > email settings configure the email templates, such as the “from” address, and the password reset instructions code implementation from python, you can trigger password reset emails via the rest endpoint or parse libraries for example curl x post \\ h "x parse application id your app id" \\ h "x parse rest api key your rest api key" \\ h "content type application/json" \\ d '{"email" "user\@example com"}' \\ https //parseapi back4app com/requestpasswordreset this ensures a seamless flow for password resets directly from your python backend or any other interface step 8 – scheduling tasks with cloud jobs what cloud jobs do cloud jobs allow you to automate tasks, like cleaning up old records or generating periodic reports these run on back4app’s infrastructure at specified intervals example in your main js parse cloud job('cleanupoldtodos', async (request) => { const todo = parse object extend('todo'); const query = new parse query(todo); const now = new date(); const thirty days = 30 24 60 60 1000; const cutoff = new date(now thirty days); query lessthan('createdat', cutoff); try { const oldtodos = await query find({ usemasterkey true }); await parse object destroyall(oldtodos, { usemasterkey true }); return `deleted ${oldtodos length} old todos `; } catch (err) { throw new error('error during cleanup ' + err message); } }); you can then schedule this job to run daily or weekly using the background jobs section of the back4app dashboard step 9 – integrating webhooks definition webhooks allow your back4app app to notify external services when certain events occur this is useful for integrating with payment gateways or analytics platforms, expanding your development processes configuration navigate to webhooks in your back4app dashboard add a new webhook endpoint (e g , https //your service com/webhook endpoint ) select the events that trigger the webhook (e g , object creation or updates) you can also define webhooks in cloud code triggers like beforesave or aftersave to post data to external apis step 10 – exploring the back4app admin panel where to find it the back4app admin app is a web based management interface it enables your team to perform crud operations, manage data, and handle day to day tasks without writing additional code this can streamline your python backend development process features enable the admin app from app dashboard > more > admin app and follow the steps create the first admin user a new role ( b4aadminuser ) and classes are automatically added to your schema choose a subdomain for your admin interface and finalize then log in to access your new admin app the admin app makes it easy to update or remove records and manage your data with proper access controls, it’s safe to share with project managers or stakeholders conclusion by following this guide on how to build a backend for python , you have created a secure backend for python applications on back4app configured a database with flexible schemas and relationships implemented real time queries for instant data updates (optional with live queries) applied security measures with acls and clps to safeguard data wrote cloud code in javascript to handle server side logic, easily callable from python set up user authentication with email verification and password reset flows handled file uploads in your python code with optional file security scheduled recurring jobs for automated tasks integrated external services using webhooks explored the admin panel for data management and collaboration with a solid python codebase and a robust back4app backend, you are now equipped to tackle advanced data structures, incorporate frameworks like django and flask, and even integrate machine learning python offers countless possibilities, and combining it with back4app means you can quickly iterate while focusing on core business logic rather than server maintenance next steps build a production ready python app by refining your database schema, adding caching, and managing performance optimizations explore advanced features like role based access control, advanced logging, or connecting third party apis for analytics review back4app’s official documentation for deeper insights into security, performance tuning, and logs analysis experiment with tools like docker and kubernetes to containerize and scale your application as needed by leveraging python’s powerful libraries and back4app’s scalable infrastructure, you can accelerate your backend development journey with confidence