DEV Community

Yuan-Hsi Lee
Yuan-Hsi Lee

Posted on

First Time Working with Twitter API

It's been a while for updating my blog. Last week, I was in the hospital waiting for a small surgery. With a smartphone and 250 MB of data, I can't really work on any project in the hospital room. However, I had an ongoing project and I really wanted to solve the issue that I faced. I stared at the ceiling in my small room and imagine that I have a screen on the ceiling to solve my code issue. Yes, just like Beth in the Queen's Gambit.
Alt Text

The project that kept occupying me is Twitter-Block-With-Love. It is a user script that helps Twitter users to block or mute likers or retweeters from a specific post. I've used it for a while and did enjoy using it to improve my Twitter experience. Although, I've always wanted to a feature that allow the user to also mute/block members from Twitter list. Therefore, I filed this issue and volunteered to work on this feature. The owner of the repo was very friendly and gave me this opportunity to work on it.

I have some basic knowledge of working with API. However, I've never worked on one before. In this project, it uses Twitter API. There is a GET method to retrieve the members in a list which makes my job way easier. I use Postman to test the GET method.
Alt Text

The issue I had was, I can't get the data of the members such as id, name, location, etc. That was an issue that I couldn't solve before I went to the hospital. However, after a week away from the project, I just came up with a different way to get the data I need, and it worked! Just like usual, the best way to resolve a bug that you've been struggled for a long time is to leave it for a while, go work on other projects or leave the desk to do something else such as cleaning the toilet or walk the dog.

Although it is late, I'm still happy that I'm able to finish the Release 0.3 in my open-source course. Hopefully, I can finish other school works before the end of this term!

Stay health and safe :)

Top comments (0)