From Zero to FastAPI Hero: My HNG12 Stage 0 Adventure

From Zero to FastAPI Hero: My Backend Stage 0 Adventure

Hey there, fellow backend wizards and code crusaders!

Welcome to my behind-the-scenes journey into the HNG12 Stage 0 assignment. Today, I'm taking you on a rollercoaster ride through the creation of a sleek FastAPI application that does three cool things:

• Returns my registered HNG email
• Shows the current UTC datetime in ISO 8601 format
• Shares the GitHub URL of this awesome project

Grab your favorite beverage, and let’s dive in!

The Mission: What Was I Asked to Do?

The challenge was crystal clear: build a public API that serves up a neat JSON bundle containing:

• Email: (Yep, my registered HNG email!)
• Current Datetime: Freshly minted in UTC, right when you ask.
• GitHub URL: A link to where all the magic happens (i.e., the project repo).

I opted for Python and FastAPI because they make creating and deploying APIs feel like a walk in the park—with a few unexpected loop-de-loops for fun.

Rolling Up My Sleeves: Setting Up the API

I started by creating a virtual environment (because who doesn’t love a good sandbox to play in?), then installed FastAPI and Uvicorn. With my coding hat on and coffee in hand, I crafted the following masterpiece:

from fastapi import FastAPI  # Import our trusty web framework
from fastapi.middleware.cors import CORSMiddleware  # For smooth cross-origin magic
from datetime import datetime, timezone  # To grab the current time in UTC

app = FastAPI()  # Creating our FastAPI app instance

# Adding CORS middleware to handle all those cross-origin requests
app.add_middleware(
    CORSMiddleware,
    allow_origins=["*"],          # Open to all domains (tweak for production if needed)
    allow_credentials=True,       # Cookies and authorization headers? Yes, please!
    allow_methods=["GET"],        # We only need GET since we're all about simple retrieval
    allow_headers=["*"],          # Let every header join the party
)

@app.get("/")  # The root endpoint of our API
def get_info():
    return {
        "email": "[e-mail]",  # My registered HNG email
        "current_datetime": datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat(),  # Fresh UTC datetime
        "github_url": "https://github.com/Joe-encodes/fastapi-project"  # Link to my GitHub repo
    }

if __name__ == "__main__":  # Only run this if the script is executed directly
    import uvicorn  # Uvicorn: the lightweight Python web server that brings our API to life
    uvicorn.run(app, host="0.0.0.0", port=8000)

What’s happening here?

• FastAPI is our magic wand that turns code into a live API.
• CORS middleware ensures that our API is friendly and accessible from any domain (because sharing is caring).
• The get_info endpoint does all the heavy lifting by packaging my email, current UTC time, and GitHub link into a neat JSON gift.

Testing the Waters

After coding, I fired up the API locally with Uvicorn and tested it on my browser and with curl. Watching that JSON response pop up was like seeing a well-cooked dish come out of the oven—satisfying and oh-so-rewarding!

uvicorn main:app --reload

Open your browser to http://127.0.0.1:8000 and feast your eyes on the magic.

Deployment: Taking It Live on Render

Once I confirmed everything was working perfectly on my local machine, I pushed the code to GitHub and connected the repository to Render. With a couple of settings tweaked:

• Build Command: pip install -r requirements.txt
• Start Command: uvicorn main:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 10000

...and voilà! The API was deployed and accessible to the world.

Lessons, Laughter, and Learning

Here’s what I learned on this wild ride:

• FastAPI is a blast: It’s fast, fun, and super friendly for developers.
• CORS is crucial: Handling cross-origin requests ensures that your API is as open and accessible as you intend it to be.
• Deployment can be thrilling: Seeing your code go live is like watching your kid ride a bike for the first time—exhilarating and nerve-wracking all at once.

Wrapping Up

This HNG12 Stage 0 assignment wasn’t just about writing code—it was an adventure in problem-solving, deploying, and celebrating every small victory along the way. I hope my journey inspires you to embrace the fun in backend development and push your own limits.

Until next time, keep coding, stay curious, and may your API always return a happy 200 OK!

Connect With Me

• GitHub: Joe-encodes
• LinkedIn: Joseph Adamu
• Email: [e-mail]

Happy coding, everyone!