This course is part of the Python for Everybody Specialization

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Charles Russell Severance

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Part of the Master of Applied Data Science degree
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Python for Everybody SpecializationUniversity of Michigan

About this Course

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This course will show how one can treat the Internet as a source of data.  We will scrape, parse, and read web data as well as access data using web APIs.  We will work with HTML, XML, and JSON data formats in Python.  This course will cover Chapters 11-13 of the textbook “Python for Everybody”. To succeed in this course, you should be familiar with the material covered in Chapters 1-10 of the textbook and the first two courses in this specialization.  These topics include variables and expressions, conditional execution (loops, branching, and try/except), functions, Python data structures (strings, lists, dictionaries, and tuples), and manipulating files.  This course covers Python 3.

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

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Course 3 of 5 in the

Python for Everybody Specialization

Approx. 19 hours to complete

English

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What you will learn

Use regular expressions to extract data from strings
Understand the protocols web browsers use to retrieve documents and web apps
Retrieve data from websites and APIs using Python
Work with XML (eXtensible Markup Language) data

Skills you will gain

Json
Xml
Python Programming
Web Scraping

Flexible deadlines

Reset deadlines in accordance to your schedule.

Shareable Certificate

Earn a Certificate upon completion

100% online

Start instantly and learn at your own schedule.

Course 3 of 5 in the

Python for Everybody Specialization

Approx. 19 hours to complete

English

Could your company benefit from training employees on in-demand skills?

Try Coursera for Business

Instructor

Instructor rating

4.86/5 (3,455 Ratings)

Charles Russell Severance

Clinical Professor

School of Information

3,714,239 Learners

46 Courses

Offered by

University of Michigan

Start working towards your Master's degree

This course is part of the 100% online Master of Applied Data Science from University of Michigan. If you are admitted to the full program, your courses count towards your degree learning.

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Syllabus - What you will learn from this course

Content Rating97%(82,093 ratings)

Week

Week 1

3 hours to complete

Getting Started

In this section you will install Python and a text editor. In previous classes in the specialization this was an optional assignment, but in this class it is the first requirement to get started. From this point forward we will stop using the browser-based Python grading environment because the browser-based Python environment (Skulpt) is not capable of running the more complex programs we will be developing in this class.

3 hours to complete

6 videos (Total 24 min), 6 readings, 2 quizzes

6 videos

Welcome to The Course45s

Welcome to Python - Guido van Rossum1m

Windows 10: Installing Python and Writing A Program6m

Windows: Taking Screen Shots2m

Macintosh: Using Python and Writing A Program9m

Macintosh: Taking Screen Shots4m

6 readings

Python Textbook10m

Help us learn more about you!10m

Course Syllabus10m

Welcome to Python 310m

Notes on Choice of Text Editor10m

Notice for Auditing Learners: Assignment Submission10m

Week

Week 2

2 hours to complete

Regular Expressions (Chapter 11)

2 hours to complete

4 videos (Total 44 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes

Week

Week 3

3 hours to complete

Networks and Sockets (Chapter 12)

3 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 68 min), 1 reading, 2 quizzes

8 videos

12.1 - Networked Technology7m

12.2 - Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)14m

Worked Example: Sockets (Chapter 12)6m

Using the Developer Console to Explore HTTP10m

Bonus: Leonard Kleinrock - The First Two Packets on the ARPANET13m

Bonus Video: Robert Cailliau - co-Inventor of the Web9m

Bonus: Office Hours - Atlanta GA (Buckhead)3m

Fun: Dr. Chuck @ CNN Reading the News4m

1 reading

If You Want to Learn More10m

1 practice exercise

Networks and Sockets30m

Week

Week 4

4 hours to complete

Programs that Surf the Web (Chapter 12)

4 hours to complete

8 videos (Total 58 min), 1 reading, 3 quizzes

8 videos

12.3 - Unicode Characters and Strings17m

12.4 - Retrieving Web Pages6m

Worked Example: Using Urllib (Chapter 12)3m

12.5 - Parsing Web Pages9m

Worked Example: BeautifulSoup (Chapter 12)9m

Bonus: Office Hours - Montreal4m

Bonus Interview: Tim Berners-Lee - Inventing the Web1m

Fun: I Got My Mojo Working - Geneva, Switzerland5m

1 reading

Notes Regarding the Use of BeautifulSoup10m

1 practice exercise

Reading Web Data From Python30m

Reviews

4.8

7893 reviews

5 stars
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4 stars
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3 stars
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2 stars
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1 star
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HIGHLIGHTS

"High quality content" in 256 reviews

"Practical assignments" in 217 reviews

TOP REVIEWS FROM USING PYTHON TO ACCESS WEB DATA

by KZJul 2, 2017

This course is great to introduce you to regular expression, HTML, XML and JSON. Based on this course, you may dive into many other materials to further learning how to use python to access web data.

by ASFeb 13, 2020

It is a very good course even for an absolute beginner. Gives knowledge of what APIs, web scraping, different web protocols. Dr. Severence is engaging and very good at explaining hard things easily.

by AGSep 12, 2017

The course teaches the basics of how to interact with the internet using Python. The course is simple, well explained, has great interviews with people who were part of the creation of the internet.

by HOJan 28, 2016

Dr. Chuck is so skilled at teaching. His teaching style and presentations are easy to follow. The class is not as challenging as other Python courses, but it's a great step to learning Python well.

View all reviews

About the Python for Everybody Specialization

This Specialization builds on the success of the Python for Everybody course and will introduce fundamental programming concepts including data structures, networked application program interfaces, and databases, using the Python programming language. In the Capstone Project, you’ll use the technologies learned throughout the Specialization to design and create your own applications for data retrieval, processing, and visualization.

Frequently Asked Questions

When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Access to lectures and assignments depends on your type of enrollment. If you take a course in audit mode, you will be able to see most course materials for free. To access graded assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience, during or after your audit. If you don't see the audit option:
The course may not offer an audit option. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid.
The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
Is financial aid available?
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.

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