I want to build a chatbot that answers questions about the Mahabharat.
When I started out, my intention was to build the chatbot (and, subsequently, an API) on a MySQL database with Python. Things didn't work out as planned, however 😄. For starters, my RaspberryPi refused to play nice with MySQL through Python. Yes, I googled. No, nothing worked (yet).
Meanwhile, I was getting frustrated. Here I was, with tons of data to share with the world, and some stupid technical non-knowledge was standing in my way.
So, I decided to look for a simpler tech stack and push out an MVP. Doing so will help me in two ways:
- Gather feedback on the usefulness of my offering
- Find simpler solutions to technical challenges (did I mention I am not a coder?)
So, here's my MVP: https://mb-verse.herokuapp.com. Its tech-stack uses:
- json for storing data
- python for processing data
- heroku for hosting (The code is in a private GitHub repo at the moment because I am not comfortable yet sharing the json files.)
Please let me know your thoughts regarding the MVP. I am looking for feedback on usability and usefulness. I started a public GitHub repo to gather issues: https://github.com/AninditaBasu/calm-wildwood
(And, if you don't know about the Mahabharat, you might want to read this summary: https://www.ancient.eu/Mahabharata/. But even if you don't know the story [and especially if you dont know the story], your feedback is very welcome because you represent a good user persona: someone who wants to know about a story - any story - that's much loved by some other group. For example, if I haven't seen any Star Wars and there was this chatbot...)
Let me know what you think 🙂
Top comments (4)
Ugh, I know, python and mysql can be a pain. On that note, is there a specific reason to be using raw python and mysql? I tend to use Django lately which makes my life 100 times easier.
I'm using Flask (coz I found it simpler than Django). Would Django have a database built in? I was thinking about mysql only because I need a relational database for storing and linking the info. But I don't know much about Django...
Oh right, yes, sorry about that, I'm not too familiar with Flask.
Yes, Django has a built-in database, by default it creates a SQLite database, but it also supports MySQL. Also, if you want to use your own MySQL database, it allows you to do it pretty easily.
Django is pretty scary at first, but it's actually damn easy. This guide basically did it for me
docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/intr... 😊 Definitely worth a look!
Update: I just checked, Flask does seem quite similar to Django, so it might not be too hard for you to grasp it
Thank you :) I'll look up the reference.