Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) are crucial in the world of software development. They serve as the backbone for communication between different software applications. This article explores how to interact with a simple API using Python. We'll use a dummy server set up using JSON-Server, a package that allows you to create a fake API for testing and development purposes.

Setting Up the Dummy Server

Before diving into Python code, let's set up our dummy server. JSON-Server provides a full fake REST API with zero coding in less than a minute(not literally). Here's how you can set it up:

Requirements

• Node.js

• NPM (Node Package Manager)

Steps

1. Install JSON-Server : Run npm install -g json-server to install JSON-Server globally.

2. Create a db.json File : This file will be a database for your dummy API.

3. Start the Server : Use the following script to start your JSON-Server.

Interacting with the API using Python

With its simplicity and readability, Python is an excellent choice for API interaction. We'll use the requests library, which is a simple HTTP library for Python.

Installation

First, ensure you have the requests library installed:

pip install requests

Performing CRUD Operations

1. Read Operation (GET request)

if response.status_code == 200: marvelstars = response.json() print("Fetched Marvel Stars:") for star in marvelstars: print(star)else: print(f"Failed to fetch data. Status code: {response.status_code}")

1. Create Operation (POST request)

# Add a new Marvel star (POST request)new_star = { "id": 73, "rating": 1, "name": "Ngugu Wa Thiongo", "stagename": "Thanos", "powers": "Snaps and annoys people"}response = requests.post(api_url, json=new_star)if response.status_code == 201: print("New Marvel Star added successfully.")else: print(f"Failed to add new Marvel Star. Status code: {response.status_code}")

1. Update Operation (PUT request)

# Edit an existing Marvel star (PUT request)updated_star = { "id": 3, "rating": 10, "name": "Natasha Romanoff", "stagename": "Black Widow", "powers": "Expert martial artist, marksmanship, and hand-to-hand combat. Skilled spy and master of espionage." }response = requests.put(api_url + "/3", json=updated_star)if response.status_code == 200: print("Marvel Star updated successfully.")else: print(f"Failed to update Marvel Star. Status code: {response.status_code}")

1. Delete Operation (DELETE request)

# Delete a Marvel star by ID (DELETE request)star_id_to_delete = 23response = requests.delete(f"{api_url}/{star_id_to_delete}")if response.status_code == 200: print(f"Marvel Star with ID {star_id_to_delete} deleted successfully.")else: print(f"Failed to delete Marvel Star by ID. Status code: {response.status_code}")

Conclusion

Using Python to interact with APIs is straightforward and efficient. By following these steps, you can set up a dummy server with JSON-Server and use Python's requests library to perform various CRUD operations. This forms a foundational skill for any developer looking to integrate different software applications or services.

https://github.com/achingachris/fetch-and-get