Python Get Request vs. Post Requests: What’s The Difference?

When users are ‘surfing the net’ and browsing web pages and interacting with web resources a number of things are actually happening which are not always obvious. Python often plays a large part in this thanks to Python’s popularity. Understanding what goes on for Python get request and post request handling and the differences between the two helps us write better software and demystifies the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the internet so we can make better use of it. This is especially useful when we are trying to interact with a REST server. Read on to find out how PyScripter, the best Windows 10 IDE for Python (or indeed any version of Windows), offers numerous advantages which help us write, debug and understand how a Python Get request works.

What part does Python Get request play in internet communications?

The web server software on the web server computer receives an HTTP request from a client PC or device. The request is made to access a server resource such as a web page, image, sound file, movie or indeed almost anything which can be carried across the internet. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator), which contains the data required to access the resource, is used by the client to submit the request. The main or most often used are the POST, GET, PUT, PATCH, and DELETE HTTP methods. Each method performs a particular action; for instance, the Python get request function enables you to get data from a data source using the internet.

This article will focus on two popular Python request modules; GET and POST requests.

What is a REST API?

A REST API, commonly referred to as a RESTful API, is a web API that complies with the restrictions of the REST architectural style and enables communication with RESTful web services. Computer scientist Roy Fielding came up with the acronym REST, which stands for representational state transfer.

Learn more about REST APIs by visiting the blog and reading some of our great articles which will teach you all about them.

What is a HTTP Request?

The client-server architecture is used by the HTTP protocol or hypertext transfer protocol. Typically, the server is the machine hosting the website, and the client is the web browser. For making HTTP requests in Python, we utilize the requests module. In addition to handling request and response data, it can handle many other elements of HTTP communication. Authentication, compression, decompression, chunked requests, etc., are all supported.

In the form of a request message with the following format, an HTTP client delivers an HTTP request to a server:

• A Request-line
• Zero or more header (General|Request|Entity) fields followed by CRLF
• An empty line (i.e., a line with nothing preceding the CRLF) indicating the end of the header fields
• Optionally a message-body

Request-line

The Request-Line starts with a method token, then lists the Request-URI, protocol version, and CRLF at the end. Space SP letters are used to separate the components.

Request-Line = Method SP Request-URI SP HTTP-Version CRLF

Which HTTP request methods are available?

The request method indicates the method to be performed on the resource identified by the given Request-URI. The method is case-sensitive and should always be mentioned in uppercase. All the supported methods in HTTP/1.1 are listed below:

• GET
• HEAD
• POST
• PUT
• DELETE
• CONNECT
• TRACE

As mentioned earlier, we are only going to focus on the difference between GET and POST request methods.

What is the GET Method and how does it work?

Information may be retrieved from a server using a provided URI and the GET technique. Data should only be retrieved and not changed in any other way by GET requests.

An example of making a GET Request is shown below:

# importing the requests library
import requests

# api-endpoint
URL = "http://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json"

# location is given here
location = "delhi technological university"

# defining a params dict for the parameters to be sent to the API
PARAMS = {'address':location}

# sending get request and saving the response as response object
r = requests.get(url = URL, params = PARAMS)

# extracting data in json format
data = r.json()

# extracting latitude, longitude, and formatted address
# of the first matching location
latitude = data['results'][0]['geometry']['location']['lat']
longitude = data['results'][0]['geometry']['location']['lng']
formatted_address = data['results'][0]['formatted_address']

# printing the output
print("Latitude:%snLongitude:%snFormatted Address:%s"
%(latitude, longitude,formatted_address))

The above example makes a GET request to the Google Maps API to obtain a particular place’s latitude, longitude, and formatted address.

What is the POST Method and how does it work?

A POST request is utilized when sending data to the server via HTML forms, such as customer information, file uploads, etc.

An example of making a POST Request is shown below:

# importing the requests library
import requests

# defining the api-endpoint
API_ENDPOINT = "http://pastebin.com/api/api_post.php"

# your API key here
API_KEY = "XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX"

# your source code here
source_code = '''
print("Hello, world!")
a = 1
b = 2
print(a + b)
'''

# data to be sent to api
data = {'api_dev_key':API_KEY,
'api_option':'paste',
'api_paste_code':source_code,
'api_paste_format':'python'}

# sending post request and saving response as response object
r = requests.post(url = API_ENDPOINT, data = data)

# extracting response text
pastebin_url = r.text
print("The pastebin URL is:%s"%pastebin_url)

By submitting a POST request to the PASTEBIN API, this example demonstrates how to post your source code to pastebin.com.

What is the difference between HTTP GET and POST requests?

What is the role played by Get and Post methods for Form submission?

METHOD="GET" and METHOD="POST" are fundamentally distinct since they relate to various HTTP requests specified in the HTTP standards. Both techniques start by having the browser create a form data set, which is subsequently encoded according to the enctype attribute’s instructions. While only application/x-www-form-urlencoded is permitted for METHOD="GET”, the enctype attribute for METHOD="POST” can be either multipart/form-data or application/x-www-form-urlencoded. The server receives this collection of form data once it has been sent.

When METHOD=”GET” is used to submit a form, the browser creates a URL by first adding a “?” to the value of the action attribute, then attaching the form’s data set (which is encoded using the application/x-www-form-urlencoded content type). The browser then processes this URL as though it were a link.

When a form with METHOD="POST" is submitted, a POST request is made using the action attribute’s value and a message constructed using the enctype attribute’s specified content type.

How do Python GET requests and POST requests work differently for Server-side processing?

In theory, whether a form submission is processed depends on whether it uses METHOD="GET" or METHOD="POST" to send the data. Different decoding techniques are required since the data is encoded in various ways. So, generally speaking, altering the METHOD could require altering the script that handles submissions. For instance, when utilizing the CGI interface, the script receives the data when GET is used in an environment variable (QUERYSTRING). However, when POST is used, form data is sent via the standard input stream (stdin), and the Content-length header specifies how many bytes must be read.

GET and POST variables confliction

In certain languages, like PHP, the data from the GET and POST parameters are available independently and merged into a convenience variable. In PHP, this variable is called $_REQUEST. If a conflict arises—when the same parameter name is used with different values in GET and POST—the dispute is addressed according to a set of criteria. The variables order configuration directive in PHP determines the order of priority. EGPCS is the default order (environment, GET, POST, Cookie, Server). This indicates that a variable in $_GET takes priority over a variable in $_POST, which takes precedence over a variable in $_COOKIE.

What is the recommended usage of a Python GET request compared to a POST request?

When sending “idempotent” forms, or ones that don’t “substantially affect the condition of the world,” GET is advised. The use of POST is advised when database changes or other operations are involved.

In contrast to “POST” requests, “GET” requests are frequently cacheable. Since caches could service the most common searches, this might significantly affect query systems’ efficiency, especially if the query strings are short. Even for idempotent requests, utilizing POST is sometimes advised.

Even for idempotent requests, utilizing POST is sometimes advised:

1. METHOD="GET" is not applicable if the form data contains non-ASCII characters, such as accented characters, even if it could function in reality (mainly for ISO Latin 1 characters).
2. When dealing with implementations that cannot handle URLs that are lengthy, METHOD="GET" may become problematic if the form data set is large—say, hundreds of characters.
3. Avoiding METHOD="GET" will help users understand how the form works and will make “hidden” fields (INPUT TYPE="HIDDEN") even more hidden because they won’t be included in the URL. However, hidden fields will still be visible in the HTML source code even if you use METHOD="POST."

Why should I use PyScripter as my Python IDE?

MIT-licensed PyScripter is a lightweight, feature-rich, free, open-source Python-specific IDE created by Kiriakos Vlahos, who previously created Python4Delphi. This library connects Python and Object Pascal in Delphi, and since 2015, the project’s SourceForge website has only had about 1.2 million downloads. It is made in Delphi with the help of SynEdit, a sophisticated multi-line edit control created in Pascal.

A robust, lightweight, adaptable, and flexible Python IDE is PyScripter. Since it was designed only for Windows systems, it operates there more quickly and effectively than bloated text editors, all-purpose IDEs, or other Python cross-platform IDEs.

Now you know the difference between GET and POST request methods. Click here to start using the best free python IDE straight away.