Quick command-line script in Python 3 to geocode a location using Google Maps Geocoding API

quickie-google-geocode.py

#!/usr/bin/env python3
#
# A Python 3.x script designed for command-line operation:
# Given a location string, passes it to Google's Geocoding API and prints to stdout: lat, lng, 
#    level of accuracy, and formatted address, as a single delimited line and, optionally, the raw JSON
# This is one in a series of mundane programming examples:
# - srccon.org/sessions/#proposal-106215
# - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1oaUNiWOyuTmxr0hVgx32vr5XN8E4MEb_2FD56BE6mZA/edit?usp=drive_web
#
# Documentation of Google Maps API
# https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation/geocoding/


#
# Usage: 
#
#    $ script.py "100 Broadway New York, NY"
#
# Response:
#
#    40.70791579999999	-74.01107309999999	ROOFTOP	100 Broadway, New York, NY 10006, USA
#
#
# usage: script.py [-h] [--copy] [--delimiter DELIMITER] [--json] addr

# positional arguments:
#   addr                  Enter an address, preferably quoted

# optional arguments:
#   -h, --help            show this help message and exit
#   --copy, -c            Copy JSON response to file at current directory
#   --delimiter DELIMITER, -d DELIMITER
#                         Use specified delimiter between values; default is `\t`
#   --json, -j            Instead of the tab-delimited values, print the JSON
#                         response to stdout

########################################

import argparse
import csv
import requests
from io import StringIO
from urllib.parse import quote_plus

GOOGLE_MAPS_URL = "https://maps.googleapis.com/maps/api/geocode/json"
parser = argparse.ArgumentParser()

# Configure the parser
parser.add_argument("addr",
    nargs = 1, 
    help = "Enter an address, preferably quoted")

parser.add_argument('--copy', '-c',
    action = 'store_true',
    help = 'Copy JSON response to file at current directory')

parser.add_argument('--delimiter', '-d',
    default = "\t",
    help = 'Use specified delimiter between values; default is `\\t`')

parser.add_argument('--json', '-j',
    action = 'store_true',
    help = 'Instead of the tab-delimited values, print the JSON response to stdout')


# Begin the command-line operation
args = parser.parse_args()
addr = args.addr[0]
resp = requests.get(GOOGLE_MAPS_URL, params = {'address': addr})
results = resp.json()['results']
if results:
    if args.json:
        # Print the raw JSON response
        print(resp.text)
    else:
        # We use the csv library to deal with any edge cases involving delimiters and escape-sequences
        outs = StringIO()
        c = csv.writer(outs, delimiter = args.delimiter, quoting = csv.QUOTE_MINIMAL)
        r = results[0]
        c.writerow([
            r['geometry']['location']['lat'],
            r['geometry']['location']['lng'],
            r['geometry']['location_type'],
            r['formatted_address']
        ])
        # csv.writerow() adds a newline character that needs to be stripped
        print(outs.getvalue().strip())

    # Save to file with --copy
    #    "100 Broadway New York, NY"
    #  is saved to:
    #    ./100+Broadway+New+York%2C+NY.json
    if args.copy:
        fpath = quote_plus(addr) + '.json'
        with open(fpath, 'w') as f:
            f.write(resp.text)

# For now, no error-handling...if results list is empty, nothing is printed

resp-google-100+Broadway+New+York.json

{
   "results" : [
      {
         "address_components" : [
            {
               "long_name" : "100",
               "short_name" : "100",
               "types" : [ "street_number" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "Broadway",
               "short_name" : "Broadway",
               "types" : [ "route" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "Lower Manhattan",
               "short_name" : "Lower Manhattan",
               "types" : [ "neighborhood", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "Manhattan",
               "short_name" : "Manhattan",
               "types" : [ "sublocality_level_1", "sublocality", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "New York",
               "short_name" : "NY",
               "types" : [ "locality", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "New York County",
               "short_name" : "New York County",
               "types" : [ "administrative_area_level_2", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "New York",
               "short_name" : "NY",
               "types" : [ "administrative_area_level_1", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "United States",
               "short_name" : "US",
               "types" : [ "country", "political" ]
            },
            {
               "long_name" : "10006",
               "short_name" : "10006",
               "types" : [ "postal_code" ]
            }
         ],
         "formatted_address" : "100 Broadway, New York, NY 10006, USA",
         "geometry" : {
            "location" : {
               "lat" : 40.70791579999999,
               "lng" : -74.01107309999999
            },
            "location_type" : "ROOFTOP",
            "viewport" : {
               "northeast" : {
                  "lat" : 40.70926478029149,
                  "lng" : -74.00972411970849
               },
               "southwest" : {
                  "lat" : 40.7065668197085,
                  "lng" : -74.0124220802915
               }
            }
         },
         "place_id" : "ChIJywL_PBdawokR4bOmKjJY3QE",
         "types" : [ "street_address" ]
      }
   ],
   "status" : "OK"
}