Chapter Practice
================

Just like last chapter, we will create a small project and update it as we go
along. Follow the instructions below to get started.

#. Open your ``local_practice`` folder in Visual Studio code. Add a new
   directory called ``flask_logic``.
#. From the *File* menu, open ``flask_logic`` in your workspace. Initialize 
   the directory as a new Git repository.
#. Use the terminal to set up and activate a new virtual environment for the
   project. This time, we will name the environment ``flask-env``.

   .. sourcecode:: bash

      Mac:
      $ python3 -m venv flask-env
      $ . flask-env/bin/activate

      Windows:
      $ py -3 -m venv flask-env
      $ . flask-env/Scripts/activate

#. Install Flask with ``pip install flask``.
#. Use the buttons in the left panel to add the files and folders shown in the
   filetree below. For now, leave the Python, HTML, and CSS files empty.

   .. figure:: figures/initial-filetree.png
      :alt: Filetree with the static, templates, and flask-env folders. Also, files style.css, main.py, and checkbox_form.html.

.. _create-gitignore:

Pro Tip!
--------

.. index:: ! gitignore

Since we are using version control, Git tracks *every* file we put into the
project folder. This includes the thousands of small files created when we
set up the virtual environment and install Flask. Since we won't change any of
these ourselves, tracking them clutters up our repository. These files should
be ignored when we save and commit changes. Fortunately, Git allows us to
create a list of items that can be skipped.

.. admonition:: Tip

   As a general rule, we should NOT track files that we didn’t write ourselves.

#. In Visual Studio Code, add one more file to the project folder. Call it
   ``.gitignore``. Any file or directory names included in this document will
   be left out of the version control.
#. Open ``.gitignore`` in the workspace, then paste the following items.

   .. sourcecode:: bash
      :linenos:

      flask-env/

      *.pyc
      __pycache__/

      instance/

      .pytest_cache/
      .coverage
      htmlcov/

      dist/
      build/
      *.egg-info/

#. Line 1 is the name of the directory for the virtual environment. Once we
   save, ``flask-env`` turns gray in the file tree. The folder will no longer
   be tracked by Git.

   .. figure:: figures/gitignore-filetree.png
         :alt: Project filetree indicating that flask-env is no longer being tracked.

#. For different projects, change line 1 to match the name used for the virtual
   environment.
#. Save and commit your work.