Tiny framework for building *good* API client libraries thanks to
`urllib3 <https://github.com/shazow/urllib3/>`_.
Highlights
==========
- Threadsafely reuses connections with Keep-Alive (via urllib3).
- Small and easy to understand codebase perfect for extending and building upon.
- Built-in support for rate limiting and request throttling.
- Functional examples for the
`Klout API <https://github.com/shazow/apiclient/blob/master/examples/klout.py>`_
and the
`Facebook OpenGraph API <https://github.com/shazow/apiclient/blob/master/examples/facebook.py>`_.
Examples
========
How to make your own super-simple client API library::
>>> from apiclient import APIClient
>>> class AcmePublicAPI(APIClient):
... BASE_URL = 'https://localhost:1234/'
>>> acme_api = AcmePublicAPI()
>>> acme_api.call('/hello')
{'what': 'world'}
>>> acme_api.call('/echo', params={"ping": "pong"})
{'ping': 'pong'}
How to add rate limiting to your client API library so that we don't exceed 10
requests per minute::
>>> from apiclient import RateLimiter
>>> lock = RateLimiter(max_messages=10, every_seconds=60)
>>> acme_api = AcmePublicAPI(rate_limit_lock=lock)
>>> # Get the first 100 pages
>>> for page in xrange(100):
... # Whenever our request rate exceeds the specifications of the API's
... # RateLimiter, the next request will block until the next request window
... r = acme_api.call('/stream', page=str(page))
For more specific API examples, see the
`examples/ <https://github.com/shazow/apiclient/blob/master/examples/>`_ directory.
Extending
=========
To handle different calling conventions, ``apiclient`` can be extended through
subclassing.
For example, if an API requires that all arguments be JSON encoded, the
``_compose_url`` method could be implemented like this::
>>> class JSONArgsAPIClient(APIClient):
... def _compose_url(self, path, params=None):
... if params is not None:
... params = dict((key, json.dumps(val))
... for (key, val) in params.iteritems())
... return APIClient._compose_url(self, path, params=params)
Or if an API returns YAML instead of JSON, the ``_handle_response`` method
could be overridden::
>>> class YAMLResponseAPIClient(APIClient):
... def _handle_response(self, response):
... return yaml.load(response.data)
TODO
====
- Tests.
- More documentation.
- More types of API handshakes, like OAuth and OAuth2.
- More examples.
Contributing
============
Any contribution is highly encouraged and desired. :)
#. Fork on Github.
#. Make the changes. Bonus points if changes include documentation and tests.
#. Send a pull request.
If you're unsure if it's a good idea,
`open an Issue <https://github.com/shazow/apiclient/issues>`_ or
`contact me <https://github.com/inbox/new/shazow>`_ to discuss your proposal.
Extra juicy bonus points if you pick off some of the items in the **TODO** list.
License
=======
`MIT <https://github.com/shazow/apiclient/blob/master/LICENSE>`_
Changes
=======
1.0.3 (2016-05-15)
------------------
* Python 3 fixes.
1.0.2 (2011-10-20)
------------------
* Fixed setup.py from failing upon not seeing README.rst when installing using
easy_install.
1.0.1 (2011-10-10)
------------------
* Fixed setup.py package not including a MANIFEST.in
1.0 (2011-10-03)
----------------
* Published decoupled code from SocialGrapple.