urllib

What is urllib?

The urllib npm package is a utility library for making HTTP requests and handling URLs. It provides a simple and flexible API for performing various types of HTTP requests, handling query parameters, and working with URLs.

What are urllib's main functionalities?

HTTP GET Request

This feature allows you to make a simple HTTP GET request to a specified URL. The callback function handles the response data or any errors that occur.

const urllib = require('urllib');

urllib.request('https://api.example.com/data', function (err, data, res) {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return;
  }
  console.log(data.toString());
});

HTTP POST Request

This feature allows you to make an HTTP POST request with a payload. The data object contains the key-value pairs to be sent in the request body.

const urllib = require('urllib');

urllib.request('https://api.example.com/data', {
  method: 'POST',
  data: {
    key1: 'value1',
    key2: 'value2'
  }
}, function (err, data, res) {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return;
  }
  console.log(data.toString());
});

Handling Query Parameters

This feature allows you to include query parameters in your HTTP request. The data object is automatically serialized into a query string and appended to the URL.

const urllib = require('urllib');

const params = {
  key1: 'value1',
  key2: 'value2'
};

urllib.request('https://api.example.com/data', {
  data: params
}, function (err, data, res) {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return;
  }
  console.log(data.toString());
});

Custom Headers

This feature allows you to set custom headers for your HTTP request. The headers object contains key-value pairs representing the header names and values.

const urllib = require('urllib');

urllib.request('https://api.example.com/data', {
  headers: {
    'Authorization': 'Bearer token',
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
}, function (err, data, res) {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err);
    return;
  }
  console.log(data.toString());
});

Other packages similar to urllib

axios

Axios is a promise-based HTTP client for the browser and Node.js. It provides a more modern and flexible API compared to urllib, with support for interceptors, request cancellation, and automatic JSON data transformation.

node-fetch

Node-fetch is a lightweight module that brings the Fetch API to Node.js. It is a minimalistic alternative to urllib, focusing on simplicity and compliance with the Fetch standard.

request

Request is a simplified HTTP client for Node.js with a rich set of features. It is more feature-rich than urllib, offering support for OAuth, cookies, and multipart form data. However, it has been deprecated in favor of more modern alternatives like axios.

README

urllib

Help in opening URLs (mostly HTTP) in a complex world — basic and digest authentication, redirections, cookies and more. Like python urllib module.

Install

$ sudo npm install urllib

Usage

HTTP GET

urllib.urlget('http://www.baidu.com/', {wd: 'cnodejs'}, function(err, data, res) {
    console.log(res.statusCode);
    console.log(res.headers);
    console.log(data.toString());
});

http post juet use 'urlpost' replace 'urlget'

Fetch HTTP headers only

urllib.urlget('http://www.google.com/', null, {handle_data: false}, function(err, _, res) {
    console.log(res.statusCode);
    console.log(res.headers);
};

Don't handle 301 or 302 redirect

urllib.urlget('http://www.google.com/', null, {handle_redirect: false}, function(err, data, res) {
    console.log(res.statusCode);
    console.log(res.headers);
};