Book excerpt: This groundbreaking book provides you with the skills and resources necessary to build web applications for Twitter. Perfect for new and casual programmers intrigued by the world of microblogging, Twitter API: Up and Running carefully explains how each part of Twitter's API works, with detailed examples that show you how to assemble those building blocks into practical and fun web applications. You'll also get a complete look at Twitter culture and learn how it has inspired programmers to build hundreds of tools and applications. With this book, you will: Explore every component of a Twitter application and learn how the API responds Get the PHP and MySQL code necessary to build your own applications, with explanations of how these ingredients work Learn from real-world Twitter applications created just for this book Discover the most interesting and useful Twitter programs--and get ideas for creating your own--with the book's Twitter application directory Twitter offers a new way to connect with people on the Internet, and Twitter API: Up and Running takes you right to the heart of this technology. "Twitter API: Up and Running is a friendly, accessible introduction to the Twitter API. Even beginning web developers can have a working Twitter project before they know it. Sit down with this for a weekend and you're on your way to Twitter API mastery."--Alex Payne, Twitter API Lead "Twitter API: Up and Running is a very comprehensive and useful resource--any developer will feel the urge to code a Twitter-related application right after finishing the book!"--The Lollicode team, creators of Twitscoop