Meet Mesop: A Python-based UI Framework that Allows You to Build Web Apps like Demos and Internal AI/ Machine Learning Apps

Building web applications can be challenging, especially for users unfamiliar with JavaScript, CSS, or HTML. It’s difficult to quickly create functional and visually appealing web apps, particularly when time is limited. Hence, delays in the development process can hinder productivity and innovation.

Several tools are available to help with web development, such as traditional frameworks like Django and Flask for Python developers. These frameworks are powerful and flexible but can be complex and time-consuming, especially for those new to web development. Additionally, they often require knowledge of front-end technologies, presenting a steep learning curve for developers primarily experienced in back-end programming.

Meet Mesop: a Python-based UI framework that allows you to rapidly build web apps like demos and internal apps. Mesop allows developers to write web applications using idiomatic Python code without needing to delve into JavaScript, CSS, or HTML, making it an attractive option for developers who want to create web apps quickly and easily.

Mesop provides several key features that enhance its usability and performance. A standout feature of Mesop is hot reload, which automatically refreshes the browser and preserves the application’s state, making the development process smoother and more efficient. Mesop also offers strong type safety and rich IDE support, ensuring that developers can catch errors early and work more effectively. Additionally, the framework includes ready-to-use components and a simple reactive UI paradigm, enabling developers to build custom UIs by composing them into components that are just Python functions.

To demonstrate its capabilities, Mesop includes a demo app that can be created with fewer than ten lines of code.

import time

import mesop as me
import mesop.labs as mel


@me.page(path="/text_to_text", title="Text I/O Example")
def app():
  mel.text_to_text(
    upper_case_stream,
    title="Text I/O Example",
  )


def upper_case_stream(s: str):
  yield s.capitalize()
  time.sleep(0.5)
  yield "Done"

Developers can install Mesop with a single pip command and run their applications immediately, further streamlining the workflow. The framework’s flexibility is also demonstrated by its use in building a demo gallery (created by Mesop itself), which showcases various Mesop apps and illustrates the possibilities for creating diverse and functional web applications.

In conclusion, Mesop is a powerful tool for Python developers who want to build web applications quickly and efficiently. By eliminating the need for front-end technologies and providing a simple, intuitive interface, Mesop makes web development more accessible. Its features, such as hot reload and ready-to-use components, enhance the development experience, allowing developers to focus on creating delightful and functional web apps. Whether for AI/ML demos, internal tools, or other use cases, Mesop offers a unique and effective solution for modern web development.

Niharika is a Technical consulting intern at Marktechpost. She is a third year undergraduate, currently pursuing her B.Tech from Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Kharagpur. She is a highly enthusiastic individual with a keen interest in Machine learning, Data science and AI and an avid reader of the latest developments in these fields.