Is there a general way to run Web Applications on Google Colab?

Question

I would like to develop web apps in Google colab. The only issue is that you need a browser connected to local host to view the web app, but Google colab doesn\'t have a bro

Answer 1

The below solution, explains

1. running the python script/API in the background
2. Get a web link to access the script output in browser tab
3. Configure the script as web server on ip:port using cherrypy
4. Create definitions(end points, ex: /index) within the script.

To run the script in the background, use below code, that will output a link that looks like https://wrea1crizb-496ff2e9c6d22116-8888-colab.googleusercontent.com/ through which output can be seen on a web browser.

!pip install CherryPy #webserver package

#bind the port 8888 and get a weblink to access
from google.colab.output import eval_js
print(eval_js("google.colab.kernel.proxyPort(8888)"))

#run the script/API in the background
import subprocess
subprocess.Popen(["python", "/content/test.py", "8888"]) 

Create test.py file and add the below code,

import cherrypy
import sys

class HelloWorld:
    def index(self):
        return "Hello World!"
    index.exposed = True
if __name__ == '__main__':
   config = {'server.socket_host': '0.0.0.0','server.socket_port' : int(sys.argv[1])}
   cherrypy.config.update(config)
   cherrypy.quickstart(HelloWorld())