HTTPX: Dump requests library in a junkyard 🚀

The most common mistake in HTTP requests in Python is still using the requests library. The httpx library is a more advanced, versatile, and modern HTTP client for Python, supporting both synchronous and asynchronous workflows. It's easy to transition from the outdated requests library, which lacks critical features like native async support.

Install httpx:

pip install httpx

Async/Sync

httpx supports both synchronous and asynchronous clients, offering flexibility for various project environments.

• 
  requests is sync-only, making it unsuitable for high-performance applications.


• 
  aiohttp is async-only, which lacks simplicity for synchronous needs.

Synchronous Example

import httpx



# Synchronous GET request

response = httpx.get('https://api.example.com/data')

print(response.json())  # Parse JSON data



# Using a persistent Client for better performance

with httpx.Client(base_url='https://api.example.com') as client:

    response = client.get('/data')

    print(response.json())

Asynchronous Example

import httpx

import asyncio



async def fetch_data():

    # Asynchronous GET request

    async with httpx.AsyncClient(base_url='https://api.example.com') as client:

        response = await client.get('/data')

        print(response.json())



# Run the async function

asyncio.run(fetch_data())

Similar to requests

For those familiar with requests, transitioning to httpx is straightforward, as both libraries share similar APIs.

With requests:

import requests



response = requests.get('https://api.example.com/data')

data = response.json()

With httpx:

import httpx



response = httpx.get('https://api.example.com/data')

data = response.json()

Both libraries share similar method names (get, post, etc.), making migration easy.

Client Management

The concept of a Client in httpx is analogous to a Session in requests. However, httpx.Client is more powerful and efficient. You can read documentation, to learn more about httpx.Client.

Features

• 
  Performance: Clients reuse underlying connections, making multiple requests faster.
  


• 
  Fine-grained control: Manage headers, cookies, timeouts, and other settings.
  


• 
  Asynchronous support: Async clients (httpx.AsyncClient) are optimized for modern async workflows.

Perfomance Explanation

When you make a simple request, like the following:

import httpx



response = httpx.get('https://example-api.com', params={'page': 1})

print(response.json())

httpx follows this algorithm:

Python framework uses httpx as its HTTP client for creating efficient, robust, and flexible API Clients (or API Wrappers). You can inject your own client into each request and close it whenever you want, to achieve the best performance:

from sensei import Manager, Router, Client



manager = Manager()

router = Router('httpx://example-api.com', manager=manager)



@router.get('/users/{id_}')

def get_user(id_: int) -> User:

    pass



with Client(base_url=router.base_url) as client:

    manager.set(client)



    for i in range(10):

        user = get_user(i)

        print(user)



    manager.pop()

Visit

Documentation

httpx provides rich, well-organized documentation site with examples and guides, making learning and troubleshooting easier and code docstrings explaining every function and parameter.

With these advantages and code examples, it's clear why httpx is the modern choice for HTTP requests in Python. Replace your requests code with httpx today and enjoy the benefits of a cutting-edge library! 🚀