Python Projects for Beginners a ten-Week Bootcamp Approach to Python Programming

Installing Packages

To install packages into the virtual environment, we’ll use pip. The syntax is always the same to install any package. It’s the keywords pip install, followed by the package name. In our case, we’ll be working with the requests package today. Let’s write the following
command:

$ pip install requests

Go ahead and run the command. We’ve just installed the requests module into our environment to work with. To be sure that it installed properly, write the following command:

$ conda list

This command lists out all the packages that are installed within this environment. You’ll be able to see the requests package that we just downloaded as well as the other packages that were downloaded initially when we created the environment.
CHapter 10 INtroduCtIoN to data aNalYsIs

APIs and the Requests Module

The requests module allows us to make HTTP requests using Python. It is the standard library for making API calls and requesting information from outside resources.
Note If you’re unfamiliar with Http requests, I suggest checking out the w3schools⁷ resource for more information, as this book is not designed to cover networking.
An application programming interface (API) is a set of functions and procedures that allow applications to access the features or data of an operating system, application, or other service. In a simpler description, APIs allow us to interact with web pages and software designed by other developers. Imagine you need some data on housing prices. Rather than collecting all that information yourself, you could use the resources that major companies like Zillow and Trulia have put together. In order to access that information, you need to call their API, which will return the data that you need. APIs make a developer’s life easier because we can use data or tools created by other companies within our projects.