Web APIs

When you need to download more detailed information/data from sites, most often the website may have an APIit is a means to access data in a controlled manner. An API allows the user to specify simple URLs suffixed with queries to retrieve only the necessary fields/information.

Most APIs require users to sign up for an account and register a token. The token is generally application specific and each application can get its own token that will enable more granular control such as number of requests and throttling. Having an application token also prevents your applications from getting restricted as the site may not know your identity and, if there are a sufficiently high number of requests, block access to the resources.

Examples ...

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