Requests Library

requests.md

Requests Library: Simplifying HTTP Requests in Python

The Requests library is a popular Python library for making HTTP requests and interacting with web services. It provides a simple and intuitive API that allows you to send HTTP requests, handle responses, manage cookies, handle authentication, and much more.

With the Requests library, you can easily perform common HTTP methods such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, HEAD, PATCH, and OPTIONS. It supports various features like passing parameters, adding headers, handling response content (including JSON), uploading files, managing cookies, and session management.

The library is widely used due to its user-friendly design, robustness, and extensive documentation. It abstracts the complexities of working with HTTP and provides a high-level interface that makes it straightforward to integrate web services into your Python applications.

Python Requests Documentation

Method	Description	Example
GET	Sends an HTTP GET request to the specified URL and retrieves the response.	import requests response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data')
POST	Sends an HTTP POST request to the specified URL with optional data.	payload = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'} response = requests.post('https://api.example.com/data', data=payload)
PUT	Sends an HTTP PUT request to the specified URL with optional data.	payload = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'} response = requests.put('https://api.example.com/data', data=payload)
DELETE	Sends an HTTP DELETE request to the specified URL.	response = requests.delete('https://api.example.com/data')
HEAD	Sends an HTTP HEAD request to the specified URL.	response = requests.head('https://api.example.com/data')
PATCH	Sends an HTTP PATCH request to the specified URL with optional data.	payload = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'} response = requests.patch('https://api.example.com/data', data=payload)
OPTIONS	Sends an HTTP OPTIONS request to the specified URL.	response = requests.options('https://api.example.com/data')
Sending Parameters	Includes parameters in the URL for a GET request.	payload = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'} response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data', params=payload)
Sending Headers	Adds custom headers to the request.	headers = {'Content-Type': 'application/json'} response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data', headers=headers)
Handling Response	Retrieves response content and status code.	response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data') content = response.content status_code = response.status_code
Handling JSON Response	Parses JSON response into a Python object.	response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data') data = response.json()
Uploading Files	Sends a POST request with a file attachment.	files = {'file': open('file.txt', 'rb')} response = requests.post('https://api.example.com/upload', files=files)
Managing Cookies	Manages cookies in requests.	response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data') cookies = response.cookies cookie_value = cookies['cookie_name']
Session Management	Maintains cookies across multiple requests using sessions.	session = requests.Session() response = session.get('https://api.example.com/login') response = session.get('https://api.example.com/data')
SSL Verification	Verifies SSL certificates for secure connections.	response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data', verify=True)
Timeout	Sets a timeout for the request.	response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data', timeout=5)
Error Handling	Handles request errors and exceptions.	try: response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data') response.raise_for_status() except requests.exceptions.HTTPError as err: print(f"HTTP Error occurred: {err}")