Flask

Flask may refer to:

See also

Flask (web framework)

Flask is a micro web framework written in Python and based on the Werkzeug toolkit and Jinja2 template engine. It is BSD licensed.

As of 2015, the latest stable version of Flask is 0.10.1. Examples of applications that make use of the Flask framework are Pinterest, LinkedIn, as well as the community web page for Flask itself.

Flask is called a micro framework because it does not presume or force a developer to use a particular tool or library. It has no database abstraction layer, form validation, or any other components where pre-existing third-party libraries provide common functions. However, Flask supports extensions that can add application features as if they were implemented in Flask itself. Extensions exist for object-relational mappers, form validation, upload handling, various open authentication technologies and several common framework related tools.

History

Flask was created by Armin Ronacher of Pocoo which is an international group of Python enthusiasts formed in 2004. According to Armin, "It came out of an April Fool's joke but proved popular enough to make into a serious application in its own right." Flask is based on the Werkzeug WSGI toolkit and Jinja2 template engine, both of them Pocoo projects that were created when Ronacher and Georg Brandl were building a bulletin board system written in Python.

Flask (casting)

A flask is a type of tooling used to contain a mold in metal casting. A flask has only sides, and no top or bottom, and forms a frame around the mold, which is typically made of molding sand. The shape of a flask may be square, rectangular, round or any convenient shape. A flask can be any size so long as it is larger than the pattern being used to make the sand mold. Flasks are commonly made of steel, aluminum or even wood. A simple flask has two parts, the cope and the drag, and more elaborate flasks may have three or even four parts.

Flask Design

Flasks are often designed with bars which extend span two opposite sides. The bars act as reinforcement to the molding sand which is relatively weak in tensile strength. The bars help support the sand through the molding and pouring operation.

Flasks are designed with an alignment or registration feature so that the two flasks can be aligned to one another to insure a casting can be more dimensionally accurate.

Flasks will usually have handles or trunnions designed into their construction which assist in handling the flasks with cranes or other lifting machinery.