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Using Requests responsibly

Requests is a powerful HTTP library for Python, but it's important to use it responsibly to ensure the best performance and avoid potential issues. In this article, we will cover some best practices and tips for using Requests responsibly.

Understanding HTTP Methods​

HTTP protocol defines a set of methods, such as GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc. Be sure you understand the implications of each method before using it. For instance, making a GET request when you should be making a POST, could lead to unexpected results or security vulnerabilities.

Session Objects for Efficiency​

Requests allows you to use Session objects to persist certain parameters across requests. This can be useful for improving efficiency when making multiple requests to the same server, as it reuses the underlying TCP connection, leading to a performance improvement.

from requests import Session

s = Session()
s.get('https://httpbin.org/get')

Timeouts are Important​

The server might not always respond to your request in a timely manner. To handle such scenarios, you should always set a timeout for your requests. If a response is not received within the specified timeout period, a Timeout exception is raised.

import requests

try:
    response = requests.get('https://httpbin.org/get', timeout=5)
except requests.exceptions.Timeout:
    print("The request timed out")

Handling Exceptions​

There are several types of exceptions that can be raised when making requests. It's important to handle these exceptions to prevent your application from crashing.

import requests
from requests.exceptions import RequestException

try:
    response = requests.get('https://httpbin.org/get')
except RequestException as e:
    print(f"There was an ambiguous exception: {e}")

Closing Connections​

By default, Requests will keep a connection open for a short period of time after a request. However, if you're making a lot of requests in a short period of time, this could lead to resource exhaustion. To prevent this, you can manually close connections using the Response.close() method.

response = requests.get('https://httpbin.org/get')
response.close()

Conclusion​

These are just a few of the best practices that can help you use Requests more responsibly. Remember, the key to effective programming is understanding not just how to use the tools available to you, but also the implications of using them in certain ways. Happy coding!