Skip to content

query-stringvsrequests-cache

MIT 25 2 6,665
51.4 million (month) Nov 13 2013 9.0.0(4 months ago)
1,269 5 28 BSD-2-Clause
Feb 14 2011 1.5 million (month) 1.2.0(4 months ago)

The query-string library is a Node.js library that provides a simple way to parse and stringify query strings. It is useful for working with the query string portion of a URL, which is the part of the URL that follows 'the "?" character and contains key-value pairs.

requests-cache is an extension to the popular requests package and it provides easy request/response caching.

This can be very useful in web scraper development as it'll speed up all requests. requests-cache can also be used for programs that integrate web scrapers as it's an easy caching layer for the most time consuming part of web scraping - http connections.

Some features:

  • Ease of use
    Keep using the requests library you're already familiar with. Add caching with a drop-in replacement for requests.Session, or install globally to add transparent caching to all requests functions.
  • Performance
    Get sub-millisecond response times for cached responses. When they expire, you still save time with conditional requests.
  • Persistence
    Works with several storage backends including SQLite, Redis, MongoDB, and DynamoDB; or save responses as plain JSON files, YAML, and more
  • Expiration
    Use Cache-Control and other standard HTTP headers, define your own expiration schedule, keep your cache clutter-free with backends that natively support TTL, or any combination of strategies
  • Customization
    Works out of the box with zero config, but with a robust set of features for configuring and extending the library to suit your needs
  • Compatibility
    Can be combined with other popular libraries based on requests

Example Use


import queryString from 'query-string';

console.log(location.search);
//=> '?foo=bar'

const parsed = queryString.parse(location.search);
console.log(parsed);
//=> {foo: 'bar'}

console.log(location.hash);
//=> '#token=bada55cafe'

const parsedHash = queryString.parse(location.hash);
console.log(parsedHash);
//=> {token: 'bada55cafe'}

parsed.foo = 'unicorn';
parsed.ilike = 'pizza';

const stringified = queryString.stringify(parsed);
//=> 'foo=unicorn&ilike=pizza'

location.search = stringified;
// note that `location.search` automatically prepends a question mark
console.log(location.search);
//=> '?foo=unicorn&ilike=pizza'
import requests_cache

# to use requests_cache just replace requests.Session with requests_cache.CachedSession
session = requests_cache.CachedSession('demo_cache')
for i in range(60):
    session.get('https://httpbin.org/delay/1')

# or patch global requests
requests_cache.install_cache('demo_cache')
requests.get('https://httpbin.org/delay/1')

# there are various configuration options: 
session = CachedSession(
  'demo_cache',
  use_cache_dir=True,                # Save files in the default user cache dir
  cache_control=True,                # Use Cache-Control response headers for expiration, if available
  expire_after=timedelta(days=1),    # Otherwise expire responses after one day
  allowable_codes=[200, 400],        # Cache 400 responses as a solemn reminder of your failures
  allowable_methods=['GET', 'POST'], # Cache whatever HTTP methods you want
  ignored_parameters=['api_key'],    # Don't match this request param, and redact if from the cache
  match_headers=['Accept-Language'], # Cache a different response per language
  stale_if_error=True,               # In case of request errors, use stale cache data if possible
) 

Alternatives / Similar


Was this page helpful?