Using Python to Access Web Data

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Using Python to Access Web Data

This course is part of Python for Everybody Specialization

Instructor: Charles Russell Severance

735,397 already enrolled

Included with

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6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

44,522 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

2 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

97%

Most learners liked this course

6 modules

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.

44,522 reviews

Beginner level

No prior experience required

Flexible schedule

2 weeks at 10 hours a week

Learn at your own pace

97%

Most learners liked this course

What you'll 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'll gain

Tools you'll learn

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Assessments

5 assignments

Taught in English

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Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Python for Everybody Specialization

When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.

Learn new concepts from industry experts
Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 6 modules in this course

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.

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.

What's included

6 videos5 readings2 app items

6 videos Total 24 minutes

Welcome to The Course 1 minute
Welcome to Python - Guido van Rossum 1 minute
Windows 10: Installing Python and Writing A Program 6 minutes
Windows: Taking Screen Shots 2 minutes
Macintosh: Using Python and Writing A Program 9 minutes
Macintosh: Taking Screen Shots 4 minutes

5 readings Total 50 minutes

Python Textbook 10 minutes
Help us learn more about you! 10 minutes
Course Syllabus 10 minutes
Notes on Choice of Text Editor 10 minutes
Notice for Auditing Learners: Assignment Submission 10 minutes

2 app items Total 120 minutes

Peer Review: Installing and Running Python Screen Shots 60 minutes
Check External Tool Grades 60 minutes

Regular expressions are a very specialized language that allow us to succinctly search strings and extract data from strings. Regular expressions are a language unto themselves. It is not essential to know how to use regular expressions, but they can be quite useful and powerful.

What's included

4 videos1 reading1 assignment1 app item

4 videos Total 44 minutes

Regular Expressions 10 minutes
Extracting Data 16 minutes
Bonus: Office Hours - Den Haag 2 minutes
Bonus Interview: Bjarne Stroustrup - C++ 15 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Python Regular Expression Quick Guide 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Regular Expressions 30 minutes

1 app item Total 60 minutes

Extracting Data With Regular Expressions 60 minutes

In this section we learn about the protocols that web browsers use to retrieve documents and web applications use to interact with Application Program Interfaces (APIs).

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 assignment1 app item

8 videos Total 68 minutes

Networked Technology 8 minutes
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) 14 minutes
Worked Example: Sockets 6 minutes
Using the Developer Console to Explore HTTP 10 minutes
Bonus: Leonard Kleinrock - The First Two Packets on the ARPANET 13 minutes
Bonus Video: Robert Cailliau - co-Inventor of the Web 10 minutes
Bonus: Office Hours - Atlanta GA (Buckhead) 3 minutes
Fun: Dr. Chuck @ CNN Reading the News 4 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

If You Want to Learn More 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Networks and Sockets 30 minutes

1 app item Total 60 minutes

Understanding the Request / Response Cycle 60 minutes

In this section we learn to use Python to retrieve data from web sites and APIs over the Internet.

What's included

8 videos1 reading1 assignment2 app items

8 videos Total 58 minutes

Unicode Characters and Strings 17 minutes
Retrieving Web Pages 7 minutes
Worked Example: Using Urllib 4 minutes
Parsing Web Pages 9 minutes
Worked Example: BeautifulSoup 9 minutes
Bonus: Office Hours - Montreal 5 minutes
Bonus Interview: Tim Berners-Lee - Inventing the Web 1 minute
Fun: I Got My Mojo Working - Geneva, Switzerland 6 minutes

1 reading Total 10 minutes

Notes Regarding the Use of BeautifulSoup 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

Reading Web Data From Python 30 minutes

2 app items Total 120 minutes

Scraping HTML Data with BeautifulSoup 60 minutes
Assignment: Following Links in HTML Using BeautifulSoup 60 minutes

In this section, we learn how to retrieve and parse XML (eXtensible Markup Language) data.

What's included

8 videos1 assignment1 app item

8 videos Total 62 minutes

Data on the Web 5 minutes
eXtensible Markup Language (XML) 9 minutes
XML Schema 11 minutes
Parsing XML 11 minutes
Worked Example: XML 6 minutes
Interview: Roy Fielding - Understanding the REST Architecture 11 minutes
Bonus: Office Hours - Boston 2 minutes
Bonus Video: Ian Horrocks / RDF / OWL (Advanced) 8 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

eXtensible Markup Language 30 minutes

1 app item Total 60 minutes

Extracting Data from XML 60 minutes

In this module, we work with Application Program Interfaces / Web Services using the JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data format.

What's included

10 videos2 readings1 assignment2 app items

10 videos Total 79 minutes

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) 9 minutes
Worked Example: JSON 6 minutes
Interview: Douglas Crockford - Discovering JSON 7 minutes
Service Oriented Approach 3 minutes
Video: Service Oriented Architectures 5 minutes
Using Application Programming Interfaces 10 minutes
Worked Example: OpenStreetMap API 20 minutes
Bonus: Office Hours - Melbourne, AU 2 minutes
Bonus: Office Hours - Santa Monica, CA 7 minutes
Bonus: Class Reunion at Bletchley Park 10 minutes

2 readings Total 20 minutes

Please Rate this Course on Class-Central 10 minutes
Post-Course Survey 10 minutes

1 assignment Total 30 minutes

REST, JSON, and APIs 30 minutes

2 app items Total 120 minutes

Extracting Data from JSON 60 minutes
Using a Geo Location API 60 minutes

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Instructor

Instructor ratings

(3,791 ratings)

Charles Russell Severance

University of Michigan

60 Courses 4,820,701 learners

Offered by

University of Michigan

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Reviewed on Jan 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.

Reviewed on Apr 7, 2016

This course is really very useful.The effort given by Dr.Chuck is very appriciateable and this course is very interesting as well because many great programmer told their history of discovered thing.

Reviewed on Oct 7, 2019

Very interesting course. Helped me solidify my understanding of SOA and APIs. I impressed my colleagues at an IT company for my understanding of these concepts. As an HR professional, this is gold.

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Frequently asked questions

To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. 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.

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.

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.