HTTP requests and API interactions
The requests library is the de facto standard for making HTTP requests in Python. It provides a simple, elegant API for sending HTTP/1.1 requests without the need for manual labor. Key features include: automatic content decoding, JSON response handling, connection pooling, cookie persistence, SSL verification, and timeout handling. The library supports all HTTP methods (GET, POST, PUT, DELETE, etc.) and can handle various types of request data (form data, JSON, files, etc.). Requests is essential for interacting with web APIs, scraping web content, and automating web-based tasks. The library's simplicity and power make it much easier to work with HTTP compared to Python's built-in urllib module. Understanding requests is crucial for any Python developer working with web services or needing to retrieve data from the internet.