Python HTTP Requests and Responses Using httpclient

Hello Coders, HTTP is the root of data exchange on the web. Whether you’re developing a web application or integrating the web application with third-party APIs, understand how to work with Python HTTP requests and responses Using httpclient. Python’s built-in feature http.client module provides a robust and low-level way to work with HTTP. This blog will help you learn about Python HTTP requests and responses using httpclient.

What is http.client in Python?

http.client is a Python module that allows you to send HTTP and HTTPS requests and provides better control over the HTTP protocol, making it a great choice when you need to understand or modify the communication between a client and a server.

Why use http.client?

There are several reasons to consider using http.client for your HTTP-related tasks in Python:

• Built-in Module: You don’t need to install any third-party module because this is a built-in module that comes with Python.
• Flexibility: http.client provides better control over the HTTP request and response process, allowing you to customize headers, handle cookies, and manage various aspects of the HTTP protocol.
• Performance: http.client is a lower-level library and because of that it provides more performance compared to higher-level libraries like requests

Setting Up http.client

Before you begin for Python HTTP requests and responses using httpclient, ensure that your system has Python installed and http.client is included in Python’s standard library, so there is no need to add a third-party module.

import http.client

How to Send an HTTP Request

We need to create a connection to interact with a web server using http.client. So let’s make it

Creating an HTTP Connection

We have to use http.client.HTTPConnection to establish a connection to the server. You can use HTTP and HTTPS but should use HTTPS connection for secure communication.

import http.client

conn = http.client.HTTPConnection("bitlevelcode.com")

for HTTPS Connection:

conn = http.client.HTTPSconnection("bitlevelcode.com")

Sending GET Requests

Once the connection is established, you can send HTTP requests using various methods. To send a GET request, use the request() method with the “GET” method and path:

# Sending a GET requests to the Root Path ("/")
conn.requests("GET","/")

# Get the Response
response = conn.getresponse()

# You can print the respobse status code and reason
print(f"Status Code: {response.status} and Reason: {response.reason}")

In the above code, we send a GET request to the server’s root path and then retrieve the response and status.

Sending POST Requests

Sending POST requests is similar to sending GET requests. You have to mention “POST” as the HTTP method and include the request body as a parameter.

# Python HTTP Requests and Responses Using httpclient

# Request Body
payload = '{"key": "value"}'

# Headers like Content-Type, User-agent, and authorization
headers = {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
}


conn.request("POST", "/api/resource", payload, headers)

response = conn.getresponse()

# You can print the respobse status code and reason
print(f"Status Code: {response.status} and Reason: {response.reason}")

You can encode the request bodies and URLs. It’s good to ensure proper URL encoding to handle special characters. Python’s urllib.parse module can help with this.

import urllib.parse

params = {
    "param1": "value with spaces",
    "param2": "special characters"
}

encoded_params = urllib.parse.urlencode(params)

Now, you can include this encoded_params in your request.

How to Handle HTTP Response

After making an HTTP request, you can retrieve the response using the getresponse() method. Let’s discuss various properties and methods to work with response data

Receiving Response Data

response = conn.getresponse()
print(response.status)  # HTTP status code
print(response.reason)  # HTTP reason phrase

# Access a specific header
content_type = response.getheader("Content-Type")

# To read the response body
data = response.read()

print(data.decode("utf-8"))
print(content_type)

Handling Response Headers

HTTP response headers provide the metadata about the response. If you want to access or manipulate the response then you can do it by using the getheader(), getheaders(), and set_header() methods.

response = conn.getresponse()

# Access all headers as a list of (name, value) tuples
headers = response.getheaders()

# Set a custom response header
conn.putheader("X-Custom-Header", "Custom-Value")

Managing Cookies with http.cookiejar

Using the http.cookiejar and http.client modules you can handle cookies in your application. This allows you to store and send cookies with your requests automatically.

import http.client
import http.cookiejar

# Create a cookie jar to store cookies
cookiejar = http.cookiejar.CookieJar()

# Create an HTTP client with cookie support
conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("example.com", cookie_jar = cookiejar)

# Send a request
conn.request("GET", "/")

# Get the response
response = conn.getresponse()

This will ensure that your requests include any necessary cookies and that cookies received in response are managed automatically.

Error Handling in http.client

Using http.client you can handle error handling to deal with common issues like network errors and timeouts. The primary exception classes include http.client.HTTPException, http.client.NotConnected, and http.client.HTTPResponse.

Here’s an example of handling exceptions:

# Python HTTP Requests and Responses Using httpclient

import http.client

try:
    conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("example.com")
    conn.request("GET", "/nonexistent")
    response = conn.getresponse()
    
    # Check the status code
    if response.status == 200:
        print("Request Successful")
    elif response.status == 404:
        print("Resource not found")
    else:
        print("Unexpected status code:", response.status)
        
except http.client.HTTPException as e:
    print("HTTP Exception:", e)
    
except Exception as e:
    print("An error occurred:", e)
    
finally:
    conn.close()

Advanced Feature of http.client

There are some advanced features also of http.client:

How to Handle Redirects

http.client follows redirects automatically by default. However, you can control this default behavior by the allow_redirects parameter in HTTPConnection the constructor.

import http.client

# Disable automatic redirects
conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("bitlevelcode.com", allow_redirects=False)

If you want to see the redirect details:

conn.set_debuglevel(1)

How to Make Asynchronous Requests

You can use the http.client.HTTPSConnection.request() function with the method option set to "HEAD" make asynchronous requests. Using this approach, you can send more than one request at once because it doesn’t wait for a response.

It will improve the efficiency of your HTTP requests where you need to set up multiple requests concurrently.

import http.client

# Create an HTTPS connection
conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("bitlevelcode.com")

# Send asynchronous requests
conn.request("HEAD", "/resource1")
conn.request("HEAD", "/resource2")

# Process responses asynchronously
response1 = conn.getresponse()
response2 = conn.getresponse()

This will help you to maintain the context and session state between requests.

Managing Session Persistence

You can use the same connection object multiple times to maintain session persistence across multiple requests. This is useful when you need to keep cookies, headers, or other session-specific information.

import http.client

# Create an HTTPS connection
conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("bitlevelcode.com")

# Send the first request
conn.request("GET", "/login")
response = conn.getresponse()

# Send a second request with the same connection
conn.request("GET", "/dashboard")
response = conn.getresponse()

Best Practices and Tips for http.client

We will discuss and learn about the context managers and handling timeouts in http.client.

Using Context Managers

It is advised to use Python’s context managers (with statements) when working http.client to guarantee that your HTTP connections are closed correctly. Even in the event of an exception, context managers automatically terminate the connection when you’re finished.

import http.client

# Use a context manager for the connection
with http.client.HTTPSConnection("example.com") as conn:
    conn.request("GET", "/")
    response = conn.getresponse()

Handling Timeouts

While creating HTTP requests, it’s very important to set timeouts to prevent your application from hanging. For this problem, you can set timeouts for both establishing a connection and receiving responses.

# Python HTTP Requests and Responses Using httpclient

import http.client

# Set connection timeout to 5 seconds
conn = http.client.HTTPSConnection("bitlevelcode.com", timeout=5)

# Send a request
conn.request("GET", "/")

# Receive the response with a timeout of 10 seconds
response = conn.getresponse(timeout=10)

Pros and Cons of Using Python http.client

Pros:

• Part of Python’s standard library (no extra dependencies).
• Provides better control over HTTP requests and responses.
• Suitable for low-level HTTP debugging and custom use cases.

Cons:

• Verbose compared to higher-level libraries like requests.
• Requires manual handling of features like redirects and session management.

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Conclusion: Python HTTP Requests and Responses Using httpclient

http.client is a powerful tool for making HTTP requests in Python, especially when you need full control over the HTTP protocol. While it may not be as user-friendly as higher-level libraries like requests, it’s an excellent choice for developers who want to dive deeper into how HTTP works.

Understanding the basics outlined in this article “Python HTTP Requests and Responses Using httpclient” allows you to confidently integrate http.client into your projects and build robust HTTP-based applications.