Programmers mostly use APIs to connect various third-party services across numerous web applications. APIs allow users to access and manipulate data like photos, search engine rankings and results, tweets, movie listings, sports scores, and weather details.
However, APIs have another useful purpose – they can add functionality to web apps. Some examples of added functionalities include file transfers, maps, translations, emails, advanced scheduling, and online payments.
Creating any of these functionalities would take a lot of time. Thankfully, APIs save time by allowing you to seamlessly add functionalities by connecting to web apps and handling their data and features.
The Python Requests library is crucial for using APIs to manipulate web apps. It allows you to send HTTP requests in Python by using APIs. Let’s discuss what Requests is, how it works, and how to use it.
What are Python Requests?
The Python Requests library is a programming functionality that allows programmers to understand how the internet works. Every time you browse the web, you must navigate websites and web pages to find the content you want to see.
You make multiple requests to the web servers using your browser. The browser routes your requests to specific web servers and comes back to you with the response, including the web page data, allowing you to see the requested content.
Here’s how it works:
- The user or client sends a request to view some data in a specified URL;
- The web browser processes the request and assigns it to the matching server using Python Requests;
- The matching server handles the request, fetches the data, and returns a response to the user;
- The user views the requested data.
Python Requests allow the client to view web content by sending multiple HTTP requests and returning a matching response using different request methods. The most common request methods are GET, POST, and PUT.
Steps to make an HTTP request
An HTTP request allows you to invoke any online service on the web, define a workflow step, and manipulate the matching response according to your needs. The process starts by invoking an HTTP endpoint to make an HTTP/HTTPS request.
You can use one of the popular shortcuts for HTTP request methods, such as “http.post” or “http.get”. Setting the ‘’call’’ field to http.request allows you to make any type of an HTTP request.
Use the ‘’method’’ field to specify the type of HTTP request you want to make by replacing “http_request” with one of the following HTTP request methods:
- http.delete
- http.get
- http.patch
- http.post
- http.put
- http.request
Pay attention to the ‘’url_value” field. You must add a specified URL where you’ve sent your HTTP request and specify the HTTP request method, such as GET, POST, PATCH or DELETE.
How to use the Python Requests library
Python Requests is a request/response coding system for sending HTTP/HTTPS requests between clients and web servers. You can use Requests to send an HTTP request to a web server in two ways:
- GET – fetch data from any server on the web;
- POST – process server data by sending multiple HTTP requests.
Your Requests journey begins with installing the Requests module in Python using the “GET request” code. You use this code for resource and data retrieval without modification.
This approach saves bandwidth and allows qualifying, sharing, and bookmarking GET replies. The GET method will get back to you with a matching response.
There are three essential things to remember when managing responses:
- response.content – view data in the response content;
- response.status code – track the status of your HTTP request;
- response.cookies – store server cookies in a Cookie Jar.
Sending HTTP requests using the POST method requires you to manage the message body enclosed in the HTTP request to match the target resource’s semantics.
Here are vital variables for making HTTP requests with Python:
- URL – specify the URL as the target for sending data;
- Data – determine a tuple, file object, or dictionary you want to send to the URL;
- JSON – send the JSON object to the requested URL;
- ARGS – select a list of files or HTTP headers to send to the given URL.
Thanks to its user-friendly interface and ease of use for managing parameters and headers in your HTTP requests, the Python Requests library is an ideal tool for making API requests and developing API applications. Install Python in a virtual environment and use the “pip install requests” to install the Requests library.
Conclusion
The Python Requests library makes sending, receiving, and managing HTTP/HTTPS requests as easy as possible.
You can use six HTTP request methods to send your requests and tap into various functionalities for handling the responses and the data they provide.
Since Python simplifies the API development process, programmers use it for various goals, such as web scraping multiple target data sources on the web.
