Making HTTP requests with Node.js (using callbacks)

1. HTTP module

Pros:

  1. native/built in module, there is no need to install third party modules

Cons:

  1. the response is a stream –> data needs to be collected in chuncks, manipulation needed to extract the JSON response.

  2. a bit verbose

  3. no support for promises

const https = require("https");

const url =  
  "[https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Florence](https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Florence)";

https.get(url, res => {  
  res.setEncoding("utf8");  
  let body = "";  
  res.on("data", data => {  
    body += data;  
  });  
  res.on("end", () => {  
    body = JSON.parse(body);  
    console.log(  
      \`City: ${body.results\[0\].formatted_address} -\`,  
      \`Latitude: ${body.results\[0\].geometry.location.lat} -\`,  
      \`Longitude: ${body.results\[0\].geometry.location.lng}\`  
    );  
  });  
});

1. Request module

Pros:

  1. easier to use

Cons:

  1. it’s a third party module with many dependencies (22)

To install the module, run npm i request inside your terminal.

const request = require("request");

const url =  
  "[https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Florence](https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json?address=Florence)";

request.get(url, (error, response, body) => {  
  let json = JSON.parse(body);  
  console.log(  
    \`City: ${json.results\[0\].formatted_address} -\`,  
    \`Latitude: ${json.results\[0\].geometry.location.lat} -\`,  
    \`Longitude: ${json.results\[0\].geometry.location.lng}\`  
  );  
});

The first argument to request can either be a URL string, or an object of options. Here are some of the more common options you'll encounter in your applications:

  • url: The destination URL of the HTTP request
  • method: The HTTP method to be used (GET, POST, DELETE, etc)
  • headers: An object of HTTP headers (key-value) to be set in the request
  • form: An object containing key-value form data
const request = require('request'); 

const options = { 
url: '[https://www.reddit.com/r/funny.json](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny.json)', 

method: 'GET', 

headers: { 
'Accept': 'application/json', 
'Accept-Charset': 'utf-8', 
'User-Agent': 'my-reddit-client' } 
}; 

request(options, function(err, res, body) { 
let json = JSON.parse(body); 
console.log(json); 
});

Using the options object, this request uses the GET method to retrieve JSON data directly from Reddit, which is returned as a string in the body field. From here, you can use JSON.parse and use the data as a normal JavaScript object.

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