Learning to Handle APIs with Python

This repository documents my journey in learning how to interact with web APIs using Python. As practical examples, I’m exploring the GitHub API, working with file downloads, checking my IP address, and practicing file handling.

What’s Inside

• GitHubAPI.py: My main Python script for experimenting with API requests, parsing JSON, and handling errors using the GitHub API.
• downloadingFiles.py: Demonstrates how to download files from a URL with progress tracking and error handling.
• knowYourIP.py: Simple script to fetch and display your public IP address using the ipify API.
• fileHandling.py: Practice file operations in Python, including reading, writing, appending, and searching for words in files.

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• requests library
• tqdm library (for download progress bar)

Install the required packages:

pip install requests tqdm

How I Use the Scripts

• GitHub API:
  Set the username variable in GitHubAPI.py to the GitHub profile you want to explore, then run:

  python GitHubAPI.py

• Download Files:
  Run downloadingFiles.py, paste a direct download URL when prompted, and the file will be saved as video.mp4 with a progress bar:

  python downloadingFiles.py

• Know Your IP:
  Run knowYourIP.py to display your public IP address:

  python knowYourIP.py

• File Handling Practice:
  Explore various file operations in fileHandling.py by uncommenting and running different code blocks.

What I’m Learning

• Sending GET and POST requests to REST APIs using Python
• Parsing JSON responses from APIs
• Handling errors and displaying useful messages
• Downloading files with progress indication and robust error handling
• Reading, writing, and searching within files

Quick Walkthroughs

GitHubAPI.py

• get_user_info(username): Fetches and prints basic info about a GitHub user (name, bio, repo count, followers, following).
• get_repos(username): Lists all public repositories for the user.
• Both functions handle errors gracefully and print helpful messages if something goes wrong.

downloadingFiles.py

• Prompts for a file URL, downloads the file with a progress bar, and handles errors professionally.

knowYourIP.py

• Fetches and prints your public IP address in JSON format.

fileHandling.py

• Contains examples for writing, reading, appending, and searching text in files.

Example Output

User Information for billy:
Name: Billy
Bio: Python Developer
Public Repos: 10
Followers: 50
Following: 5

Repositories for user billy:
Total repositories: 10
- repo1
- repo2
...

Next Steps in My Learning

1. Applying these in my upcoming project.
2. Experiment with other APIs and file operations to build my Python skills.

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Thanks for checking out my API and file handling learning project!