Extracting YouTube Data With Python Using API

We make it a bit “prettier” by printing out what the program does. Then we get the feed by using the requests module. I used to use the urllib2 module to open the URL, but ever since Kenneth Reitz gave us the Requests module, I’m letting that module do most of my HTTP tasks.

r = requests.get("http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?v=2&alt=jsonc")
r.text

After we have got the feed and saved it to the variable “r”, we convert it into a Python dictionary.

data = json.loads(r.text)

Now, we have a python dictionary and we can use a for loop to go through the data

for item in data['data']['items']:

This can sometimes be the tricky part and you need to look carefully how the structure is presented to you. Using a JSON editor will make it easier.

Using the YouTube API to get data

This script will show the most popular videos on YouTube.

# Import the modules
import requests
import json

# Make it a bit prettier..
print "-" * 30
print "This will show the Most Popular Videos on YouTube"
print "-" * 30

# Get the feed
r = requests.get("http://gdata.youtube.com/feeds/api/standardfeeds/top_rated?v=2&alt=jsonc")
r.text

# Convert it to a Python dictionary
data = json.loads(r.text)

# Loop through the result. 
for item in data['data']['items']:

    print "Video Title: %s" % (item['title'])

    print "Video Category: %s" % (item['category'])

    print "Video ID: %s" % (item['id'])

    print "Video Rating: %f" % (item['rating'])

    print "Embed URL: %s" % (item['player']['default'])

    print

Using string formatting makes it a lot easier to view the code.

# Sample Output ------------------------------ This will show the Most Popular Videos on YouTube ------------------------------ Video Title: PSY - GANGNAM STYLE (?????) M/V Video Category: Music Video ID: 9bZkp7q19f0 Video Rating: 4.614460 Embed URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&feature=youtube_gdata_player Video Title: PSY - GENTLEMAN M/V Video Category: Music Video ID: ASO_zypdnsQ Video Rating: 4.372500 Embed URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASO_zypdnsQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player Video Title: MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS - THRIFT SHOP FEAT. WANZ (OFFICIAL VIDEO) Video Category: Music Video ID: QK8mJJJvaes Video Rating: 4.857624 Embed URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QK8mJJJvaes&feature=youtube_gdata_player