Python / FastAPI Basics Interview Questions
What is FastAPI and what are its key advantages over Flask or Django REST Framework?
FastAPI is a modern, high-performance Python web framework for building APIs, built on top of Starlette (for async web handling) and Pydantic (for data validation). It was created by Sebastián Ramírez and released in 2018.
| Feature | FastAPI | Flask | Django REST Framework |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance | Very high (async, Starlette) | Moderate (sync-first) | Moderate (sync-first) |
| Type hints | First-class — drives validation & docs | Optional, no built-in use | Limited |
| Auto docs | Swagger UI + ReDoc built-in | Manual setup required | Browsable API only |
| Validation | Pydantic — automatic, deep | Manual or extensions | Serializers — verbose |
| Async support | Native (async def) | Limited (Flask 2+) | Limited |
| Learning curve | Low-moderate | Low | High (Django ecosystem) |
Key selling points:
- Automatic interactive API documentation (Swagger UI at
/docs, ReDoc at/redoc) - Runtime data validation and serialisation via Pydantic with zero extra code
- Full async/await support enabling high concurrency
- Editor auto-completion everywhere because the entire framework is built around type hints
- One of the fastest Python frameworks available — comparable to NodeJS and Go in benchmarks
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