Simple Requests

Jed Rembold

April 10, 2026

Is it only Wednesday?

Scan the QR code or go to https://tools.jedrembold.prof/daily
Fun group question: What is one website you’d love to be able to interact with in Python code?

Expect Midterm 2 results back on Monday
Grade Reports coming
Don’t forget about Enigma!
- It is all you now!
- Sections will meet next week, but will work with dictionaries
I’m in a 3 hour meeting this afternoon, so email or Discord is probably best if you have questions

This is a coding problem. Work in pairs or trios on a single computer, and discuss your algorithm/approach before you write any code!
The domain + endpoint: http://www.official-joke-api.appspot.com/jokes/random will return JSON with a random joke.
Use the requests library to make a GET request to this URL
Process the result to JSON
Print the setup, then pause and wait for the user to press the enter key before printing the punchline.

Swap who is typing!
The site Agify.io offers an API that can be accessed at https://api.agify.io?name={your name here}
Write a function that loops over all the first names in your group, inserts them into the URL, requests the result, and then prints out the oldest name at the end

Swap who is typing!
The site restcountries.com offers up an endpoint at https://restcountries.com/v3.1/name/{country_name} that returns a large amount of information about a given country
Write a function that prompts a user to type in a country name, and then uses the API to print to the screen the number of timezones that intersect that country

Swap who is typing!
I’ll be showing a URL on the screen (and I’ll post it to Discord)
Create a payload dictionary that includes the following fields:
- "name": Your first name
- "year": fresh/sophomore/junior/senior
- "fun_fact": Some fun fact about you!
To attach your payload as JSON, you need to include it with the json keyword argument:
```
requests.post(|||URL|||, json=|||your dict|||)
```
Look up at the screen as soon as you send it! You should see it pop up!