Tricks with Python Request Library

The Python Requests library offers various tricks and tips for making HTTP requests. Here are some examples of its usage:

Sending HTTP requests with arbitrary data:

The requests library allows you to send HTTP requests with arbitrary data, such as JSON, XML, or even binary data. Here’s an example of sending a JSON payload to a server:

import json
import requests

data = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'}
response = requests.post('https://example.com/api', json=data)
print(response.json())

Setting custom headers:

You can set custom headers for your HTTP requests using the headers parameter of the request() function. Here’s an example of setting a custom Authorization header:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://example.com/api', headers={'Authorization': 'Bearer my_token'})
print(response.json())

Sending files:

You can send files using the files parameter of the request() function. Here’s an example of sending a file to a server:

import requests

file = open('file.txt', 'rb')
response = requests.post('https://example.com/api', files={'file': file})
print(response.json())

Sending multipart data:

You can send multipart data using the multipart parameter of the request() function. Here’s an example of sending a multipart form:

import requests

data = {'key1': 'value1', 'key2': 'value2'}
files = {'file': open('file.txt', 'rb')}
response = requests.post('https://example.com/api', data=data, files=files)
print(response.json())

Setting the User-Agent:

You can set the User-Agent header using the headers parameter of the request() function. Here’s an example of setting the User-Agent to a custom value:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://example.com/api', headers={'User-Agent': 'My Custom User-Agent'})
print(response.json())

Following redirects:

By default, the requests library follows redirects. You can disable this behavior by setting the allow_redirects parameter to False. Here’s an example of disabling redirects:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://example.com/api', allow_redirects=False)
print(response.status_code)

Using proxies:

You can use a proxy server to make requests using the proxies parameter of the request() function. Here’s an example of using a proxy server:

import requests

proxies = {'https://example.com': 'http://proxy.example.com'}
response = requests.get('https://example.com/api', proxies=proxies)
print(response.json())

Setting the timeout:

You can set the timeout for a request using the timeout parameter of the request() function. Here’s an example of setting a timeout of 10 seconds:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://example.com/api', timeout=10)
print(response.json())

Using the async parameter:

You can use the async parameter of the request() function to make asynchronous requests. Here’s an example of making an asynchronous GET request:

import requests

async def fetch_data():
    response = requests.get('https://example.com/api', async=True)
    return response.json()

data = fetch_data()
print(data)

Using the Session class:

The Session class is a convenient way to make multiple requests to the same server without having to specify the URL and headers for each request. Here’s an example of using a Session object to make multiple requests:

import requests

s = requests.Session()

response1 = s.get('https://example.com/api/1')
response2 = s.get('https://example.com/api/2')

print(response1.json())
print(response2.json())

Custom Headers:
You can add custom headers to your HTTP requests using the headers parameter. For example:

   import requests
   headers = {
       'User-Agent': 'Your User Agent'
   }
   response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', headers=headers)

Timeouts:
Setting a timeout for your request can be done as follows:

   import requests
   response = requests.get('https://www.example.com', timeout=5)

Retries:
You can set the number of retries for your request in case of a connection error:

   import requests
   from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
   from requests.packages.urllib3.util.retry import Retry

   s = requests.Session()
   retries = Retry(total=5, backoff_factor=1, status_forcelist=[ 500, 502, 503, 504 ])
   s.mount('https://', HTTPAdapter(max_retries=retries))

These are just a few examples of the many features and tricks available in the requests library. With a little creativity and experimentation, you can use requests to perform a wide range of HTTP tasks.

These examples demonstrate some of the powerful features of the Requests library, such as custom headers, timeouts, and retries, which can be used to make robust and reliable HTTP requests

Thanks for your time

Jesus Saves

By Jesse JCharis

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