News App (API) Project (code) in Python

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News App (API) in Python.

About the project: This is the project for a News App that uses an API to fetch real-time news headlines.

This program will allow you to get the latest news headlines from a public news API for a specific country and category.

It will fetch the data, parse the JSON response, and display the headlines and their sources in your console.

Before you run the code:

• Get an API Key: You'll need a free API key from a news service. A good option is NewsAPI.org.
• Go to https://newsapi.org/
• Sign up for a free developer account.
• Your API key will be displayed on your dashboard.
• Install requests library: Open your terminal or command prompt and run:

  pip install requests
  

How to use this program:

• Save the code: Save the code below as a Python file (e.g., news_app.py).
• Get your API Key: Visit NewsAPI.org, sign up for a free account, and get your API key.
• Insert API Key: Open the news_app.py file and replace 'YOUR_API_KEY' with the actual API key you obtained.
• Install requests: If you haven't already, install the requests library by running pip install requests in your terminal.
• Run the script: Open your terminal or command prompt, navigate to the directory where you saved the file, and run:

  python news_app.py
  

The program will then prompt you to enter a country code and a category, fetch the top headlines, and display them for you.

Project Level: Intermediate

You can directly copy the below snippet code with the help of green copy button, paste it and run it in any Python editor you have.

Steps: Follow these steps

Step 1: Copy below code using green 'copy' button.

Step 2: Paste the code on your chosen editor.

Step 3: Save the code with filename and .py extention.

Step 4: Run (Press F5 if using python IDLE)

# news_app.py

import requests
import json

# IMPORTANT: Replace 'YOUR_API_KEY' with your actual NewsAPI key
API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL = "https://newsapi.org/v2/top-headlines?"

def get_top_headlines(country='us', category='general'):
    """
    Fetches top news headlines for a given country and category.

    Args:
        country (str): The 2-letter country code (e.g., 'us', 'gb', 'in').
        category (str): The news category (e.g., 'business', 'technology', 'sports').

    Returns:
        dict or None: A dictionary containing news articles if successful, None otherwise.
    """
    complete_url = f"{BASE_URL}country={country}&category={category}&apiKey={API_KEY}"
    
    try:
        response = requests.get(complete_url, timeout=10)
        response.raise_for_status() # Raise an HTTPError for bad responses
        data = response.json()

        if data["status"] == "ok":
            return data
        else:
            print(f"Error: {data.get('message', 'Could not retrieve news.')}")
            return None
    except requests.exceptions.RequestException as e:
        print(f"Network error or invalid request: {e}")
        return None
    except json.JSONDecodeError:
        print("Error: Could not decode JSON response from API.")
        return None

def display_headlines(news_data):
    """
    Displays the extracted news headlines and sources.
    """
    if news_data is None or not news_data['articles']:
        print("No articles found.")
        return

    print("\n--- Top Headlines ---")
    for i, article in enumerate(news_data['articles']):
        title = article.get('title', 'No Title')
        source = article['source'].get('name', 'Unknown Source')
        url = article.get('url', 'No URL')
        
        print(f"{i+1}. {title}")
        print(f"   Source: {source}")
        print(f"   Link: {url}")
        print("-" * 20)
    print("---------------------")

def main():
    """
    Main function to run the News App.
    """
    if API_KEY == "YOUR_API_KEY":
        print("WARNING: Please replace 'YOUR_API_KEY' in the script with your actual NewsAPI key.")
        print("You can get a free API key from https://newsapi.org/")
        return

    print("--- Python News App ---")
    print("Get the latest news headlines from around the world.")
    print("Type 'q' to quit at any time.")

    while True:
        country = input("\nEnter the 2-letter country code (e.g., us, gb, in): ").strip().lower()
        if country == 'q':
            print("Exiting News App. Goodbye!")
            break
            
        category = input("Enter a news category (e.g., business, technology, sports, general): ").strip().lower()
        if category == 'q':
            print("Exiting News App. Goodbye!")
            break

        if not country or not category:
            print("Country and category cannot be empty.")
            continue
            
        news_data = get_top_headlines(country, category)
        if news_data:
            display_headlines(news_data)

# This ensures that main() is called only when the script is executed directly.
if __name__ == "__main__":
    main()

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