How To Install Urllib In Python

In Python, urllib is a built-in library that helps users in fetching URLs (Uniform Resource Locators).

Using this library, various tasks such as fetching URLs, using HTTP protocol, email protocols, etc. can be done effortlessly. In this tutorial, we will go through the steps required to install urllib in Python and how to use it for basic tasks.

Step 1: Ensure Python is installed

Since urllib is a built-in library, there is no need to specifically install it. However, it is essential to have Python installed on your system. Check the Python installation on your system by running the following command:

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python --version

If Python is installed, the output should display the current Python version. If not, visit the official Python website to download and install the appropriate version for your operating system.

Step 2: Decide between urllib or urllib2

urllib and urllib2 are two different versions of the library. In Python 2.x versions, urllib2 is used, while Python 3.x versions use urllib. Depending on your Python version, you will have to import either urllib or urllib2 for your code.

Step 3: Import urllib in Python

To import urllib in Python, use the following code:

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import urllib.request

If you’re using Python 2.x, use the following code instead:

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import urllib2

Step 4: Use urllib to fetch a URL

Now that you have the urllib module imported, you can use it to fetch URLs. Here’s an example of fetching URL content using Python:

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import urllib.request
 
url = "https://www.example.com"
response = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
content = response.read().decode('utf-8')
 
print(content)

For Python 2.x:

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import urllib2
 
url = "https://www.example.com"
response = urllib2.urlopen(url)
content = response.read()
 
print content

The urlopen() function fetches the URL content and returns it in bytes for Python 3.x, or as a string for Python 2.x. The content must then be decoded into a string (for Python 3.x).

Complete Example:

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import urllib.request
 
url = "https://www.example.com"
response = urllib.request.urlopen(url)
content = response.read().decode('utf-8')
 
print(content)

Output:

<!doctype html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Example Domain</title>

    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />

...

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered how to install urllib in Python and use it to fetch a URL. Since urllib is a built-in library, it does not require any external installation.

All you need to do is make sure Python is installed and import the urllib (or urllib2) module in your code. With urllib, you can further explore additional features like URL parsing, error handling, and more.