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timeout in requests

Narkw Brahma

Narkw Brahma

• 1 min read

Timeout in Requests

As a web developer, I have encountered situations where sending requests to web servers took longer than expected. When a request takes too long to get a response from the server, it is called a timeout.

Timeouts are an important feature in web development. They help prevent requests from blocking the execution of other parts of the program. When a request is sent to a server, it is expected to respond within a certain time frame.

If the server is slow to respond or does not respond at all, the client (the browser or application sending the request) will wait for a specified amount of time before timing out. This timeout period can be set by the client or server depending on the application's needs.

Types of Timeouts

There are two types of timeouts that can occur:

  • Connection timeout: This occurs when the client cannot establish a connection with the server within a specified time frame. This can be caused by network issues, server downtime or firewall restrictions.
  • Read timeout: This occurs when the client has established a connection with the server but has not received a response within a specified time frame. This can be caused by slow servers, overloaded servers or network congestion.

Setting Timeouts in Requests

Setting timeouts in requests is an important step in preventing slow or unresponsive applications. In Python, the requests module provides an easy way to set timeouts for HTTP requests.


import requests

# Setting connection timeout to 5 seconds
response = requests.get('https://example.com', timeout=5)

# Setting read timeout to 10 seconds
response = requests.get('https://example.com', timeout=(5, 10))

In the example above, we set the connection timeout to 5 seconds and the read timeout to 10 seconds. If the server does not respond within the specified time frame, a TimeoutError will be raised.

It is important to note that setting timeouts too low can cause requests to fail unnecessarily. It is best to test and set appropriate timeouts based on the application's requirements.

Conclusion

Timeouts are an important feature in web development. They help prevent requests from blocking the execution of other parts of the program. Setting appropriate timeouts can help make applications more responsive, reliable and prevent unnecessary failures.

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