Python Requests Library: Making HTTP Requests for Humans

Posted on May 6, 2024 in Computers

Python Requests Library: Making HTTP Requests

The Requests library for Python simplifies making HTTP requests, offering an elegant and user-friendly experience.

Making a Request

Start by importing the Requests module:

>>> import requests

To retrieve a webpage, such as GitHub’s public timeline, use the get method:

>>> r = requests.get('https://api.github.com/events')

This creates a Response object named r containing information about the response.

Other HTTP Methods

Requests supports various HTTP methods with a consistent API. Here’s how to make POST, PUT, DELETE, HEAD, and OPTIONS requests:

>>> r = requests.post('http://httpbin.org/post', data={'key':'value'})
>>> r = requests.put('http://httpbin.org/put', data={'key':'value'})
>>> r = requests.delete('http://httpbin.org/delete')
>>> r = requests.head('http://httpbin.org/get')
>>> r = requests.options('http://httpbin.org/get')

Passing Parameters in URLs

To send data in the URL’s query string, use the params keyword argument with a dictionary of key-value pairs. For example:

>>> payload = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'}
>>> r = requests.get('http://httpbin.org/get', params=payload)

This encodes the URL correctly, as shown by printing r.url:

>>> print(r.url)
http://httpbin.org/get?key2=value2&key1=value1

Note that keys with None values are excluded from the query string. You can also pass lists as values:

>>> payload = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': ['value2', 'value3']}

>>> r = requests.get('http://httpbin.org/get', params=payload)
>>> print(r.url)
http://httpbin.org/get?key1=value1&key2=value2&key2=value3

Python Requests Library: Making HTTP Requests for Humans