This documentation provides guidelines and steps to build a RESTful API using Flask to manage hiking trails data. The API allows users to retrieve existing trails and add new trail entries.

• Python installed on your system
• Understanding of Python programming
• Basic knowledge of PostgreSQL and databases

pip install Flask

pip install psycopg2-binary

• Create a PostgreSQL database named test.
• Create a table named trails with columns: id (SERIAL), name (VARCHAR), city (VARCHAR), description (TEXT).

1. Import necessary modules:

   from flask import Flask, jsonify, request
   import psycopg2

2. Initialize Flask app and establish PostgreSQL connection:

   app = Flask(__name__)
   # Connect to PostgreSQL
   conn = psycopg2.connect(
       dbname="test",
       user="postgres",
       password="your_password",
       host="localhost",
       port="5432"
   )

3. Create routes to manage trails:

   • GET /trails: Retrieve all hiking trails.
   • POST /trails: Add a new hiking trail.

4. Example code snippet for retrieving trails:

   @app.route('/trails', methods=['GET'])
   def get_trails():
       cursor = conn.cursor()
       cursor.execute("SELECT * FROM trails")
       trails = cursor.fetchall()
       trails_data = [{'id': trail[0], 'name': trail[1], 'city': trail[2]} for trail in trails]
       return jsonify({'trails': trails_data})

5. Example code snippet for adding a new trail:

   @app.route('/trails', methods=['POST'])
   def add_trail():
       new_trail = request.json
       if not new_trail or 'name' not in new_trail or 'city' not in new_trail:
           return jsonify({'error': 'Invalid trail data'}), 400
       cursor = conn.cursor()
       cursor.execute("INSERT INTO trails (name, city) VALUES (%s, %s)", (new_trail['name'], new_trail['city']))
       conn.commit()
       return jsonify({'message': 'New Trail Added Successfully', 'trail': new_trail}), 201

6. Run the Flask application:

   if __name__ == '__main__':
       app.run(debug=True)

• Use tools like Postman or write Python scripts to test API endpoints by sending GET and POST requests to retrieve and add trails.

• Implement authentication mechanisms to secure API endpoints and control access.
• Ensure proper error handling to handle failed requests and validation errors.