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<!DOCTYPE html>
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<meta name="author" content="Matt Makai">
<meta name="description" content="Integrating web APIs into an application is necessary for both mobile and web applications. Learn more about API integration on Full Stack Python.">
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<title>API Integration - Full Stack Python</title>
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<p class="banner"><a href="https://www.gumroad.com/l/python-deployments" style="color: #fff">The Full Stack Python Guide to Deployments December book update just released</a>!</p>
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<h1>API Integration</h1>
<p>The majority of production Python web applications rely on several
externally hosted application programming interfaces (APIs). APIs are also
commonly referred to as third party services or external platforms.
Examples include <a href="https://www.twilio.com/docs/">Twilio</a> for messaging and
voice services, <a href="https://stripe.com/docs/api">Stripe</a> for payment processing
and <a href="https://disqus.com/api/docs/">Disqus</a> for embedded webpage comments.</p>
<p>There are many articles about proper API design but best practices for
integrating APIs is less commonly written about. However, this subject
continuously grows in importance because APIs provide critical functionality
across many implementation areas.</p>
<h2>Hosted API testing services</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.runscope.com/">Runscope</a> is a service specifically designed
for APIs that assists developers with automated testing and traffic
inspection.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://apiary.io/">Apiary</a> provides a blueprint for creating APIs so
they are easier to test and generate clean documentation.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>API Integration Resources</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Some developers prefer to use
<a href="http://docs.python-requests.org/en/latest/">Requests</a> instead of an API's
helper library. In that case check out this
<a href="http://engineering.hackerearth.com/2014/08/21/python-requests-module/">tutorial on using requests to access web APIs</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Product Hunt lists many commonly used
<a href="https://www.producthunt.com/e/an-api-for-everything">commercial and free web APIs</a>
to show "there's an API for everything".</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>There's a list of all government web APIs at
<a href="http://18f.github.io/API-All-the-X/">18F's API-All-the-X list</a>. The list
is updated whenever a new API comes online.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If you use Requests check out this handy guide on gracefully
<a href="http://www.mobify.com/blog/http-requests-are-hard/">handling HTTP errors with Python</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>John Sheehan's
"<a href="https://speakerdeck.com/johnsheehan/zen-and-the-art-of-api-maintenance">Zen and the Art of API Maintenance</a>"
slides are relevant for API integration.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>This post on
"<a href="https://stormpath.com/blog/api-driven-development/">API Driven Development</a>"
by Randall Degges explains how using APIs in your application cuts down
on the amount of code you have to write and maintain so you can launch your
application faster.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/SmartBear_Software/safe-sex-with-thirdparty-apis">Safe Sex with Third Party APIs</a>
is a funny high level overview of what you should do to protect your
application when relying on third party services.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="http://www.coglib.com/~icordasc/blog/2014/12/retries-in-requests.html">Retries in Requests</a>
is a nice tutorial for easily re-executing failed HTTP requests with the
Requests library.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>My DjangoCon 2013 talk dove into
"<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGP8DQIqxXs">Making Django Play Nice With Third Party Services</a>."</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>If you're looking for a fun project that uses two web APIs within a
Django application, try out this tutorial to
<a href="https://www.twilio.com/blog/2014/11/build-your-own-pokedex-with-django-mms-and-pokeapi.html">Build your own Pokédex with Django, MMS and PokéAPI</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://www.brianthicks.com/2014/12/01/test-apis-properly-with-vcr-py/">vcr.py</a>
is a way to capture and replay HTTP requests with mocks. It's extremely
useful for testing API integrations.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><a href="https://realpython.com/blog/python/caching-external-api-requests/">Caching external API requests</a>
is a good post on how to potentially limit the number of HTTP calls
required when accessing an external web API via the Requests library.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<h2>API integration learning checklist</h2>
<ol>
<li>
<p>Pick an API known for top notch documentation. Here's a list of
<a href="https://medium.com/she-hacks-hacker-academy/4d3c43be9386">ten APIs that are a good starting point for beginners</a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Read the API documentation for your chosen API. Figure out a simple
use case for how your application could be improved by using that API.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Before you start writing any code, play around with the API through the
commandline with <a href="http://curl.haxx.se/">cURL</a> or in the browser with
<a href="http://www.getpostman.com/">Postman</a>. This exercise will help you get
a better understanding of API authentication and the data required for
requests and responses.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Evaluate whether to use a helper library or work with
<a href="http://docs.python-requests.org/en/latest/">Requests</a>. Helper libraries
are usually easier to get started with while Requests gives you more
control over the HTTP calls.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Move your API calls into a <a href="/task-queues.html">task queue</a> so they do not
block the HTTP request-response cycle for your web application.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<h3>What's next after integrating web APIs into your project?</h3>
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<div class="panel-heading"><h3 class="panel-head">API Integration</h3></div>
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