Twitter Application Development for Dummies (ISBN - 0470568623)

459 Pages·2021·7.38 MB·English

$response = $twitter->status->update

('Developing a killer new Twitter app!');

Dusty Reagan, @DustyReagan
Creator of FriendOrFollow.com Twitter app

Learn to:
• Turn your ideas into applications

• Develop apps with a high chance of
success

• Find out what users are looking for

• Make money from your apps

Twitter

® Application
Development

Making Everything Easier!™

Open the book and find:

• Basics on using HTML, CSS, PHP,
and MySQL

• How to create and manage your
developer account

• Advice on choosing an idea for
your app

• An overview of Web apps, Twitter
bots, mobile clients, and more

• Twitter’s two APIs

• Different ways to monetize
your app

• Example code for every API
method

• Code for a complete app

Dusty Reagan launched a Web development company called
Floating Head Studios in 2007. He developed the hugely popular
Twitter app FriendOrFollow.com in 2008, and a few months later
launched FeaturedUsers.com, a niche ad network centered around
the Twitter ecosystem. Follow him on Twitter at @DustyReagan.

$29.99 US / $35.99 CN / £21.99 UK

ISBN 978-0-470-56862-0

Programming/Application Development

Go to Dummies.com®

for videos, step-by-step examples,
how-to articles, or to shop!

Discover the fun of
building a Twitter app,
and earn some cash too!

Love Twitter? Know a little (or a lot) about developing
applications? Learn how to build a Twitter app, some great
ways to make it stand out from the crowd, how to get it
discovered, and how to turn your Twitter app-building
into a productive little business — all from the creator
of FriendOrFollow.com, one of the coolest Twitter apps
around!

• If your skills are rusty — check Chapter 2 for a quickie refresher
course in Web application development

• Exploring the ecosystem — explore the types of Twitter apps
already available and the five categories of the Twitter
ecosystem

• The money thing — learn about Twitter’s unusual financial
environment and ways you can earn money from your apps

• Build a Twitter Web app from the ground up — work with Twitter
API libraries, choose a Web hosting provider, and set up a Web
framework

• Get the word out — discover ways to promote your apps and
how to make your app business grow

Twitter
® Application Development

Reagan

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Start with FREE Cheat Sheets

Cheat Sheets include

• Checklists

• Charts

• Common Instructions

• And Other Good Stuff!

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Get More and Do More at Dummies.com®

To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to
www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/twitterappdev

by Dusty Reagan

Twitter
®
Application
Development

FOR
DUMmIES

‰

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Twitter® Application Development For Dummies®
Published by
Wiley Publishing, Inc.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774

www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted
under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permis-
sion of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright
Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax [phone]. Requests
to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons,
Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, [phone], fax [phone], or online at http://www.
wiley.com/go/permissions.

Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the
Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything
Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/
or its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated
with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO
REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF
THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH-
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2010921232

ISBN: 978-0-470-56862-0

Manufactured in the United States of America

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About the Author

Dusty Reagan launched a Web development company called Floating Head
Studios in 2007. He developed the popular Twitter app Friend or Follow in
2008, and a few months later launched FeaturedUsers, a niche ad network for
the Twitter ecosystem.

Follow Dusty on Twitter at @dustyreagan.

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Dedication

This book is dedicated to my parents, Randy & Sandy Reagan.

Author’s Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without the patience, love, and
encouragement of my wonderful wife, Sharlee. She was beside me through
the whole journey, proofreading every word, acting as my sounding board,
and being my emotional rock during those tight deadlines. Thank you Shar. I
love you!

To all of my friends and family who put up with my social absence during
the writing of this book, thank you for your encouragement and for enthusi-
astically accepting me back into your lives when I crawled out of my writing
cave, back into the daylight.

Thanks to Chris Treadaway for introducing me to Katie Feltman. Katie, you
are a wonderful project editor and writer’s therapist. Thank you for guiding
me through this wonderful experience.

Pat O’Brien, thank you for your professionalism and editing expertise.
Somehow you and Debbye Butler managed to make even my writing publish-
able.

Thank you Jaisen Mathai (@jmathai) and Abraham Williams (@abraham)
for your technical help with OAuth. You are both masters of your trade and
exceptionally generous with your knowledge. Follow them on Twitter and pay
attention to what they have to say about Twitter API happenings.

Thank you for reading. I hope this book brings value to your endeavors.

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Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For
other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, out-
side the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax [phone].

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media
Development

Project Editor: Pat O’Brien

Acquisitions Editor: Katie Feltman

Copy Editor: Melba Hopper

Technical Editor: Vince McCune

Editorial Manager: Kevin Kirschner

Media Development Project Manager:
Laura Moss-Hollister

Media Development Assistant Project
Manager: Jenny Swisher

Media Development Associate Producers:
Josh Frank, Marilyn Hummel,
Douglas Kuhn, and Shawn Patrick

Editorial Assistant: Amanda Graham

Sr. Editorial Assistant: Cherie Case

Cartoons: Rich Tennant
(www.the5thwave.com)

Composition Services

Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery

Layout and Graphics: Ashley Chamberlain,
Carl Byers, Joyce Haughey,
Melissa K. Jester

Proofreader: Sossity R. Smith

Indexer: Becky Hornyak

Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

Richard Swadley, Vice President and Executive Group Publisher

Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher

Mary Bednarek, Executive Acquisitions Director

Mary C. Corder, Editorial Director

Publishing for Consumer Dummies

Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher

Composition Services

Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

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Contents at a Glance

Introduction ................................................................ 1

Part I: Catching Up to Twitter and App Development ...... 5

Chapter 1: Catching Twitter’s Coat Tails ........................................................................7
Chapter 2: Web Development Refresher Course .........................................................13
Chapter 3: Setting Up to Create Twitter Apps .............................................................39

Part II: Ideation — Coming Up with an Idea ............... 45

Chapter 4: Getting to Know the Twitter Application Ecosystem ..............................47
Chapter 5: Introducing the Twitter API .........................................................................63
Chapter 6 : Logging In and Managing Your Account ...................................................79
Chapter 7: Managing Users and Their Relationships ................................................105
Chapter 8: Communication Through Tweets .............................................................179
Chapter 9: Selecting an Idea .........................................................................................241

Part III: Creation — Developing Your Application ...... 249

Chapter 10: Selecting Libraries, Design Patterns, and Frameworks .......................251
Chapter 11: Hosting In the Clouds ...............................................................................255
Chapter 12: Coding Your Application .........................................................................269
Chapter 13: Making It Pretty Makes It Credible .........................................................309
Chapter 14: What You Need to Know to Grow ...........................................................315

Part IV: Monetization — Making Money
with Your Application .............................................. 321

Chapter 15: How Twitter Makes Money ......................................................................323
Chapter 16: Advertising ................................................................................................327
Chapter 17: Monetizing with Other Models................................................................335
Chapter 18: Promoting Your Application ...................................................................345

Part V: The Part of Tens ........................................... 355

Chapter 19 : Ten Traits of a Respectable Twitter Developer ...................................357
Chapter 20: Ten Twitter API Tips ...............................................................................361

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Appendix A: Twitter API Reference............................ 365

Appendix B: Gallery of Twitter Applications ............... 395

Index ...................................................................... 413

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