Python & XML

Chapter 8. Python Internet APIs

As the Internet continues to evolve, so do the toolboxes of the programmers who code for it. Just a few years ago, most Internet-related development usually involved tapping into a database or legacy system and presenting the information to the Web. This type of development is still very popular and necessary. However, the notion of exposing business processes and previously internal systems to the Internet as web services is picking up speed. The type of data exposed by business processes is meant for consumption by applications, not humans, and demands different solutions from programmers. There is also a rising interest in peer-to-peer services in which machines interrogate each other for available resources. This new evolution of the Internet and the interconnecting of distributed systems requires that programmers understand previously mysterious subsystems. Some of these new challenges involve making web sites talk to each other without the involvement of humans. This chapter shows you the programmatic APIs and Python modules you need to work with XML and the Internet.