My Journey into Automation: From Postman to Curl and Beyond

Introduction: The Beginning of Automation

Today, I want to take you on a journey that started with curiosity and has become an essential part of my daily workflow. I’m talking about the fascinating world of automation. If you’ve ever needed to automate repetitive tasks, this story is for you. Grab a coffee, sit back, and let’s dive in.

The First Step: Discovering Postman

My automation adventure began with Postman. For those unfamiliar, Postman is a powerful tool for testing APIs. It makes sending requests and receiving responses easy, like having a friendly guide to help you understand how APIs work.

Getting Started with Postman

1. Download and Install Postman: Head over to the Postman website and download the application. Installation is straightforward, and you’ll be up and running quickly.
2. Create a New Request: Open Postman and click on the “New” button. Select “Request” and give it a name. Let’s call our first request “Get User Info.”
3. Set Up the Request:
   • Method: Select “GET” from the dropdown.
   • URL: Enter the API endpoint you want to test. For example, https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1.
4. Send the Request: Hit the “Send” button and watch as Postman retrieves the data. You should see a JSON response with user information.
5. Save the Request: Don’t forget to save your request for future use.

Postman is incredibly user-friendly and provides a visual interface to interact with APIs. However, as I grew more comfortable, I wanted more control and flexibility. This led me to explore another tool: curl.

Leveling Up: Moving to cURL

cURL(Client URL) is a command-line tool for transferring data using various network protocols. It’s a powerful alternative to Postman, especially for scripting and automation tasks.

Getting Started with cURL

Install cURLl: cURL comes pre-installed on most Unix-based systems. For Windows, you can download it from the official website.

Basic Usage: To perform the same GET request we did with Postman, open your terminal and type:

curl https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1

Adding Headers: Need to add headers? No problem. Use the -H flag:

curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1

Sending Data: For POST requests, you can send data using the -d flag:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"name":"John Doe"}' https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users

Curl’s command-line nature makes it perfect for scripting and integrating into larger automation workflows. But there was still more to discover. My next step was diving into programming languages like Python and JavaScript.

The Power of Code: Python and JavaScript

Programming languages open up endless possibilities for automation. With libraries and frameworks, you can automate complex workflows, integrate with various APIs, and handle data efficiently.

Automating with Python

Python is my go-to language for automation due to its simplicity and powerful libraries.

Install Requests Library: Start by installing the requests library:

pip install requests

Basic GET Request:

import requests

response = requests.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1')
print(response.json())

Handling POST Requests:

import requests
import json

url = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users'
data = {'name': 'John Doe'}
response = requests.post(url, data=json.dumps(data), headers={'Content-Type': 'application/json'})
print(response.json())

Automating with JavaScript

JavaScript, especially with Node.js, is another excellent choice for automation.

• Install Axios: We’ll use Axios for HTTP requests:

npm install axios

• Basic GET Request:

const axios = require('axios');

axios.get('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users/1')
  .then(response => {
    console.log(response.data);
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error(error);
  });

• Handling POST Requests:

const axios = require('axios');

const data = {
  name: 'John Doe'
};

axios.post('https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/users', data, {
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json'
  }
})
.then(response => {
  console.log(response.data);
})
.catch(error => {
  console.error(error);
});

Conclusion: The Journey Continues

Automation is an ever-evolving field, and the tools and languages I’ve mentioned are just the beginning. Whether you’re starting with Postman, diving into curl, or exploring the power of Python and JavaScript, there’s always something new to learn and discover.

Call to Action

I hope this story has inspired you to start your own automation journey. Try out the examples above, experiment with different tools, and share your experiences. What tools have you found helpful? What challenges have you faced? Let’s keep the conversation going in the comments below.

Stay tuned for the next part of this journey, where we’ll delve deeper into advanced automation techniques and integrations. Happy automating!