For those reading this after CompCon 2013:

This is a fairly comprehensive tutorial for setting up a Bottle microframework web app with a MongoDB back end and a Bootstrap front end, with nginx and supervisor.

The presentation is in the presentation directory, and all the source code is in the steps directory. If you were not at CompCon, you probably want the -web version. (You'll also need to follow the instructions below re: Vagrant first!)

You won't have access to a CompCon AWS instance unless you were at the workshop, but you're welcome to deploy on your own AWS instance, or your own VPS, or not at all. :)

Enjoy and feel free to get in touch with any questions.

--- Daniel Axtens, 29/9/13

diy-web-app

In a couple of hours, you'll build a full stack and (partially) buzzword compliant web app. It's the ideal platform for something too 'different' for a CMS like WordPress and too simple/small to justify using a massive framework like Django.

By the end, you'll have built a web application using Python, the Bottle micro framework, a MongoDB backend, the nginx web server, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and a Bootstrap front-end with some jQuery based AJAX-y fun. We'll also touch on authentication (and how not to screw it up), and Google Analytics, so you can watch your app go viral. We'll learn about Fabric for simple deployment, and Vagrant for painless team development. I'll tell you about common security vulnerabilities and how to avoid them.

I'm interested but I don't know what X is

Don't worry if any of the above terms are new to you!

However, it is assumed that you:

• *Can work a nix command line. If you can cd and ls around without getting lost, you're probably fine.
• Are familiar with procedural programming. If you know what a function/procedure/method is, and what for loops and if statements are, and can code them in at least one language, you're probably going to be fine on this count. If you don't, googling something like "python for non-programmers" is probably a good start, or you can try something like this.
• Have a basic knowledge of Python. If you are a programmer familiar with other languages, try this, otherwise see the reference above.
• Have a basic knowledge of HTTP The difference between GET/POST and the meaning of 404/500 errors would be helpful. Anything else is a bonus. I leave this to your ability to google.
• Have a basic knowledge of git If you are familiar with version control systems, I recommend Everyday GIT with 20 commands or so. If you've never used a version control system before (or are going "What's a version control system?"), then you might want to start with this introduction to version control, and read that and the next few pages. (You can skip the one on git history!) Getting your head clear on the 3 states will make your life easier.
• Have a basic knowledge of HTML, or are willing to just Google it as needed.
• Can Google your way out of simple issues: We're not at CompCon anymore, so I can't help you in quite the same way :)

Before you begin the slides

• Figure out how to use SSH on your platform. For anything other than windows, you should already have ssh installed. If you're on Windows, you probably want to look at PuTTY or you can try installing it on Cygwin.

• Install Vagrant. You'll also need VirtualBox if you don't already have it. They're both free. Vagrant is a painless way to isolate all your development in a virtual machine, and allows everyone who works on your project to use a consistent environment.

• Clone this repository. If you don't know what this means, consult the git references above. If you don't know how to do this, consult GitHub's documentation.

• cd into the repository and run vagrant up. This will work on a Linux, Mac or Windows shell.

  • If you get an error message about the Vagrantfile, your version of Vagrant is too old. I was using version 1.2.2.

• Patiently wait while vagrant downloads:

  • A disk image.
  • All the bits and bobs you need to develop and deploy.
  • Occasionally something will fail to download. If so, do vagrant halt; vagrant up and see if that fixes it.

• Verify that you can ssh in.

  • If you are not on Windows: vagrant ssh should work. This might also work with Cygwin.
  • If you are on windows and using PuTTY, see the instructions provided by Vagrant.

• You should now be presented with a linux shell prompt identifying that you're in a Vagrant VM.

• Exit that (Ctrl-D or logout should work) and vagrant halt. You now have a disk image ready to go.