Currency Exchange Rate Checker in Python

Currency Exchange Rate Checker: Develop a program that fetches and displays the latest currency exchange rates.

Input values:

User selects the currencies to compare or the base currency for which exchange rates are fetched.

Output value:

Latest currency exchange rates displayed for the selected currencies or against the base currency.

Example:

Input values:
1. Base currency: USD
- User selects USD as the base currency.
Output value:
Latest exchange rates against USD:
- EUR: 0.88
- GBP: 0.76
- JPY: 109.42
- AUD: 1.31
- CAD: 1.27
Input values:
2. Compare currencies: EUR, GBP
- User selects EUR and GBP to compare exchange rates.
Output value:
Latest exchange rates for EUR and GBP:
- EUR to USD: 1.14
- GBP to USD: 1.31
Input values:
3. Compare currencies: EUR, JPY
- User selects EUR and JPY to compare exchange rates.
Output value:
Latest exchange rates for EUR and JPY:
- EUR to USD: 1.14
- JPY to USD: 0.0091

Solution: Using requests and a Public API

Code:

# Solution 1: Using 'requests' library to fetch data from a public API

import requests  # Import the requests library to handle HTTP requests

def get_exchange_rate(base_currency, symbols):
    """
    Fetches exchange rates for the specified base currency against selected currencies.
    Args:
        base_currency (str): The currency code to use as the base.
        symbols (list): List of currency codes to compare against the base currency.
    Returns:
        dict: A dictionary with currency codes as keys and exchange rates as values.
    """
    url = f"https://api.exchangerate-api.com/v4/latest/{base_currency}"  # API URL with the base currency

    # Send GET request to the API and get JSON response
    response = requests.get(url)
    data = response.json()  # Parse the JSON data

    # Filter and return only the relevant currency symbols
    rates = {currency: data["rates"][currency] for currency in symbols if currency in data["rates"]}
    return rates

# User input for the base currency and currencies to compare
base_currency = "USD"
compare_currencies = ["EUR", "GBP", "JPY"]

# Fetch and display exchange rates
exchange_rates = get_exchange_rate(base_currency, compare_currencies)
print(f"Latest exchange rates for {base_currency}:")
for currency, rate in exchange_rates.items():
    print(f"- {currency}: {rate}")

Output:

Latest exchange rates for USD:
- EUR: 0.916
- GBP: 0.766
- JPY: 149.68

Explanation:

• Uses the requests library to send an HTTP GET request to a free public API.
• Extracts and displays exchange rates for the given currencies using the base currency.
• Error handling is simpler since data is directly retrieved from JSON.