api-starter

Hi, this is the API starter pack, a crash course to get you up and running with APIs if this is your first time working with them!

What You'll Learn

• What APIs are and how to use them (in PDF)
• How to use API keys securely (in PDF)
• How to send and receive data using Python (template.py)
• How to make requests with the Pokemon API
• How to build a simple chatbot using the OpenAI API and a weather app using the Weather API (Jupyter notebooks)

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What is an API?

API stands for Application Programming Interface — a way for two software systems to talk to each other.
For example:

• The Weather API gives you the temperature when you send it a city name.
• The OpenAI API gives you a text response when you send it a message.
• The Pokemon API gives you Pokémon stats, abilities, and other data when you send it a Pokémon name.

You send a request, and get back a response (usually in JSON).

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How to Get API Keys

API keys are unique strings that identify you when you make requests to an API. They act as a password between your application and the API server.

You'll typically store API keys in a .env file to keep them private and load them into your Python scripts using python-dotenv.

To get an API key:

1. Go to the API's website and create an account
2. After signing in, navigate to the API keys or developer settings section
3. Generate a new API key and copy it
4. Store it securely in your .env file (never commit API keys to version control!)

Setup Instructions

1. Clone this repository:

   git clone https://github.com/<your-username>/api-starter.git
   cd api-starter

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate      # For Mac/Linux
   venv\Scripts\activate         # For Windows

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Create your environment file:

   cp .env.example .env

   Then open the .env file and add your API keys.

5. Try out any of the example notebooks (Weather App, Pokemon, OpenAI) and use the template file!

NOTE: You must active and deactive your virtual enviornment whenever you are working with these python files.

• To activate:

  source venv/bin/activate      # For Mac/Linux
  venv\Scripts\activate         # For Windows

• To deactivate:

  deactivate