After deciding to start learning FastAPI, I wanted to build something simple to understand how APIs actually work.
So today, I built my very first API using FastAPI.
Honestly, I expected backend development to feel complicated at first, but FastAPI made the setup surprisingly clean and beginner-friendly.
Setting Up FastAPI
First, I installed FastAPI and Uvicorn:
pip install fastapi uvicorn
Then I created a file called main.py.
My First FastAPI Code
from fastapi import FastAPI
app = FastAPI()
@app.get("/")
def home():
return {"message": "Hello FastAPI"}
To run the server:
uvicorn main:app --reload
After running this command, my API started working locally.
My First API Response
When I opened:
I saw:
{
"message": "Hello FastAPI"
}
It felt surprisingly satisfying seeing my first backend response working.
The Coolest Part — Automatic Docs
One thing that immediately impressed me was the automatic API documentation.
FastAPI instantly generated:
/docs
/redoc
Swagger UI looked incredibly clean and made testing APIs much easier for beginners like me.
What I Learned Today
Here are a few things I understood while building this small API:
APIs return data instead of web pages
Routes define endpoints
FastAPI syntax feels very readable
Backend development feels less scary when starting small
Challenges I Faced
At first, I got confused with:
virtual environments
running uvicorn
understanding what app = FastAPI() actually does
But after experimenting a little, things slowly started making sense.
Next Step
Next, I want to learn:
GET vs POST requests
path parameters
request validation using Pydantic
I’ll keep documenting everything as I continue learning backend development with FastAPI 🚀
