Building a Simple RESTful API using Flask and SQLite for Beginners

2 min read · June 01, 2026

๐Ÿ“‘ Table of Contents

  • Introduction to RESTful API and Flask
  • Key Takeaways
  • Creating a Simple RESTful API using Flask and SQLite
  • Adding API Endpoints
  • Deploying the API
  • Comparison of Flask and Other Frameworks
  • Frequently Asked Questions
Building a Simple RESTful API using Flask and SQLite for Beginners
Building a Simple RESTful API using Flask and SQLite for Beginners

Introduction to RESTful API and Flask

Creating a Simple RESTful API using Flask and SQLite is a great way for beginners to start building and deploying a backend web service. A RESTful API, or Application Programming Interface, is an architectural style for designing networked applications. In this blog post, we will explore how to create a simple RESTful API using Flask, a micro web framework for Python, and SQLite, a self-contained, file-based database.

Key Takeaways

  • Introduction to Flask and SQLite
  • Creating a simple RESTful API
  • Deploying the API

Creating a Simple RESTful API using Flask and SQLite

To start, we need to install Flask and SQLite. We can do this by running the following commands in our terminal:

pip install flask
pip install sqlite3

Next, we can create a new Flask app and connect to our SQLite database:


         from flask import Flask, jsonify, request
         import sqlite3

         app = Flask(__name__)

         # Connect to SQLite database
         conn = sqlite3.connect('database.db')
         cursor = conn.cursor()

         # Create table
         cursor.execute('''
             CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS users
             (id INTEGER PRIMARY KEY, name TEXT, email TEXT)
         ''')

         conn.commit()
         conn.close()
      

Adding API Endpoints

We can now add API endpoints to our Flask app to interact with our SQLite database:


         # Get all users
         @app.route('/users', methods=['GET'])
         def get_users():
             conn = sqlite3.connect('database.db')
             cursor = conn.cursor()
             cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM users')
             users = cursor.fetchall()
             conn.close()
             return jsonify(users)

         # Get user by id
         @app.route('/users/', methods=['GET'])
         def get_user(user_id):
             conn = sqlite3.connect('database.db')
             cursor = conn.cursor()
             cursor.execute('SELECT * FROM users WHERE id=?', (user_id,))
             user = cursor.fetchone()
             conn.close()
             return jsonify(user)

         # Create new user
         @app.route('/users', methods=['POST'])
         def create_user():
             new_user = {
                 'name': request.json['name'],
                 'email': request.json['email']
             }
             conn = sqlite3.connect('database.db')
             cursor = conn.cursor()
             cursor.execute('INSERT INTO users (name, email) VALUES (?, ?)', (new_user['name'], new_user['email']))
             conn.commit()
             conn.close()
             return jsonify(new_user), 201
      

Deploying the API

Once we have created our API, we can deploy it to a production environment. We can use a WSGI HTTP server like Gunicorn to run our Flask app:

gunicorn -w 4 app:app

Comparison of Flask and Other Frameworks

Framework Pros Cons
Flask Lightweight, flexible, and modular Limited built-in functionality
Django High-level framework with many built-in features Complex and difficult to learn
Pyramid Flexible and modular Less popular and less documented

For more information on Flask and RESTful APIs, you can check out the following resources:

Flask Documentation

SQLite Documentation

RESTful API Tutorial

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is a RESTful API?

    A RESTful API, or Application Programming Interface, is an architectural style for designing networked applications.

  • What is Flask?

    Flask is a micro web framework for Python that is lightweight, flexible, and modular.

  • What is SQLite?

    SQLite is a self-contained, file-based database that is easy to set up and use.

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Published: 2026-06-01

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