Using Python to Access Web Data Course Syllabus

Overview: This course provides a beginner-friendly introduction to accessing and processing web data using Python. You'll learn how to extract information from websites and APIs, work with data formats like XML and JSON, and apply regular expressions for data parsing. The course is structured into six modules, each requiring approximately 3 hours, for a total of about 18 hours of learning. With self-paced access and lifetime availability, you can complete the course at your convenience while gaining practical skills applicable to data analysis and web development roles.

Module 1: Getting Started

Estimated time: 3 hours

• Install Python and a text editor
• Set up a local Python development environment
• Transition from browser-based Python to local execution
• Run simple Python programs locally

Module 2: Regular Expressions (Chapter 11)

Estimated time: 3 hours

• Understand the syntax of regular expressions
• Use regex to search and match patterns in strings
• Extract specific data using capture groups
• Apply regular expressions in Python with the re module

Module 3: Networks and Sockets (Chapter 12)

Estimated time: 3 hours

• Understand network protocols used by web browsers
• Learn how clients request documents over the web
• Use Python sockets to retrieve data from web servers
• Explore HTTP request-response cycle

Module 4: Programs that Surf the Web (Chapter 12)

Estimated time: 3 hours

• Retrieve web pages using Python's urllib
• Parse HTML content from websites
• Access data from APIs using HTTP requests
• Handle HTTP headers and status codes

Module 5: Web Services and XML (Chapter 13)

Estimated time: 3 hours

• Understand eXtensible Markup Language (XML) structure
• Parse XML data using Python
• Navigate XML trees with element tree parsing
• Extract and manipulate data from XML documents

Module 6: JSON and the REST Architecture (Chapter 13)

Estimated time: 3 hours

• Work with JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) data
• Parse JSON in Python using the json module
• Interact with RESTful web services
• Retrieve and process data from public APIs

Prerequisites

• No prior programming experience required
• Basic computer literacy
• Willingness to learn Python and web data concepts

What You'll Be Able to Do After

• Use regular expressions to extract data from strings
• Understand how web browsers retrieve documents and interact with web apps
• Retrieve data from websites and APIs using Python
• Work with XML (eXtensible Markup Language) data
• Parse JSON data and use RESTful APIs effectively