Exploring adresse.data.gouv.fr API using JavaScript

adresse.data.gouv.fr is an open data platform that provides various data sets related to addresses in France. Their API allows developers to access this data and build applications that leverage this information. In this blog post, we will explore how to use this API with JavaScript.

Getting started

To get started, you will need an API key. You can get your API key by creating an account on their website. Once you have your key, you can start making requests to their API.

Endpoint URL

The endpoint URL for the adresse.data.gouv.fr API is https://api-adresse.data.gouv.fr/search/. This endpoint allows you to search for an address using a query parameter. For example, searching for "10 Downing Street" would look like this:

https://api-adresse.data.gouv.fr/search/?q=10+downing+street

Making requests with JavaScript

To make requests to the adresse.data.gouv.fr API from JavaScript, we can use the fetch method that is available in most modern browsers. Here's an example of how to use fetch to get information about a specific address:

const apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE';
const addressQuery = '10+downing+street'; // Replace with any address you want to search

fetch(`https://api-adresse.data.gouv.fr/search/?q=${addressQuery}&apikey=${apiKey}`)
  .then(response => response.json())
  .then(data => {
    console.log(data); // This is the response data
  });

In this example, we are making a request to the adresse.data.gouv.fr API endpoint with a specific address query and our API key. We are also converting the response to JSON format using the response.json() method. Finally, we are logging the response data to the console.

Handling errors

It's important to handle errors when making requests to external APIs. Here's an example of how to handle errors with the adresse.data.gouv.fr API:

const apiKey = 'YOUR_API_KEY_HERE';
const addressQuery = '10+downing+street'; // Replace with any address you want to search

fetch(`https://api-adresse.data.gouv.fr/search/?q=${addressQuery}&apikey=${apiKey}`)
  .then(response => {
    if (!response.ok) {
      throw new Error("Network response was not okay");
    }
    return response.json()
  })
  .then(data => {
    console.log(data); // This is the response data
  })
  .catch(error => {
    console.error('There was a problem fetching data:', error);
  });

In this example, we are checking if the response from the API is ok using response.ok. If it is not, we are throwing an error. We are then handling any errors that occur using the catch method.

Conclusion

Using the adresse.data.gouv.fr API with JavaScript is relatively simple. You can use the fetch method to make requests and handle errors in your code. With this API, you can build applications that leverage address data for a variety of use cases.