/starwars_api

Primary LanguagePythonMIT LicenseMIT

Star Wars API Caching Engine

This project provides a caching engine for the Star Wars API (SWAPI) to enhance its features for high school students working on school projects.

Table of Contents

Features

  • REST API: Designed to serve the needs of high school students with additional features like search, sort, etc.
  • Caching: Utilizes SQLite for caching SWAPI data, providing faster responses and reducing the load on the SWAPI server.
  • Modular Design: Follows a modular structure with controllers, models, and utilities.
  • Logging: Implements logging for better visibility into the application's behavior.
  • Exception Handling: Handles exceptions gracefully to ensure the stability of the application.
  • Unit Tests: Includes unit tests for the SWAPI controller.
  • Cron Job: Sets up a cron job using APScheduler to periodically update the cached data.

Prerequisites

  • Python (>v3.9)
  • Pip (Python package installer)
  • SQLite (for local development)

Installation

  1. Clone the repository.

    git clone https://github.com/nbpatil0/starwars_api.git
cd starwars_api

  2. Create a virtual environment and activate it.

    python -m venv venv
    • on Windows
    venv\Scripts\activate
    • on Mac/Linux
    source venv/bin/activate

  3. Install the dependencies:

    pip install -r requirements.txt

  4. Create a .env file based on the provided example:

    FLASK_APP=app.main:app
FLASK_ENV=development
DATABASE_URI=sqlite:///cache.db
LOG_FILE=app.log
CRON_INTERVAL=3600

  5. Source the .env file:

    source .env

  6. Run the Flask application:

    flask run

Dockerfile

A Dockerfile is included to containerize the application for easy deployment and isolation. Follow the instructions below to run the Dockerized application locally:

Prerequisites

  • Docker installed on your machine.

Build and Run

  1. Open a terminal and navigate to the project directory.

  2. Build the Docker image:

    docker build -t starwars-api-server .

  3. Run the Docker container:

    docker run -p 5000:5000 starwars-api-server

    The application will be accessible at http://127.0.0.1:5000/.

Usage

API Endpoints

  • /swapi/<resource>: Retrieve data for a specific Star Wars resource with query parameters defined below.
  • /swapi/<resource>/<id>: Retrieve details for a specific item within a resource.

Query Parameters

  • page: Page number for pagination (default: 1)
  • items_per_page: Number of items per page (default: 10)
  • sort: Attribute to sort by
  • order: Sorting order ('asc' or 'desc')
  • search: Search term

Unit Tests

Run the unit tests using the following command:

python -m unittest discover -s tests

Cron Job

The cron job is automatically set up to run every hour (adjustable in the .env file). To manually update the cache, run the following:

python cron.py

Loggers

Logging has been implemented throughout the application to capture important events and errors. Loggers help in monitoring and troubleshooting the application.

Deployment

To deploy the application on a remote server, follow the deployment procedures for your chosen hosting platform.

Deployment on Render

The Star Wars API Caching Server has been deployed on the Render platform. Please note the following considerations:

  • Service Limitations:

    • Render services have a limitation where if the server doesn't receive any inbound hits for 15 minutes, the server shuts down to conserve resources.
    • The server will start automatically upon receiving a new incoming request.

  • Initialization Time:

    • As part of the deployment process, the server first updates the cache data from the Star Wars API.
    • It may take a few minutes for the server to respond to the first API request, especially during the initial cache update.

  • Example:

    • Retrieve data for a specific Star Wars resource with Search and Sort:
    https://starwars-api-7nk0.onrender.com/swapi/starships?items_per_page=20&search=transport&sort=cargo_capacity
    • Retrieve details for a specific item within a resource:
    https://starwars-api-7nk0.onrender.com/swapi/starships/2