Intro to APIs: Case study to match taxonomic names in Python

Do you want to learn how to pull from existing data sources to accelerate your own research and development? Let’s learn how to do that with APIs. We will demystify terms commonly thrown around with APIs like REST and cover practical examples of interacting with APIs.

This is a 4 hour workshop tailored to the ocean sciences. We will cover that basics of what APIs are, common types you will encounter, and how to use these communication tools to pull from data sources. We will learn how to use APIs to make requests, get responses in a variety of ways (web browser, command line, programs (e.g. python).

Prerequisites

This lesson has no prerequisites. You will need an internet connection and a web browser.

Schedule

Setup Download files required for the lesson
00:00 1. Intro to APIs What is an API and why are they useful? Understand what APIs are and demystify terms like REST, CRUD, and SOAP.
00:40 2. How can I use an API? How can I use APIs and where?
01:30 3. Working in Python What does it look like to make API requests in python and work with data in the responses?
02:10 4. Taxa name matching Work through some python examples matching taxonomic names
02:50 Finish

The actual schedule may vary slightly depending on the topics and exercises chosen by the instructor.