The frustrating world of big brand APIs (Spotify & Twitter vs. RapidAPI)

The Stats

Feelings

• Before: Good
• During: Bad
• After: Good

Time

• Estimated: 1 day
• Actual: 2–3 days

Imposter Syndrome Check: Negative

The Background

In my quest to learn Next.js and turn my hobby coding into a more employable skillset, I’ve chosen to create a cultural dictionary for English learners: a one-stop-shop for them to see how the words they search for are used in music, on twitter, and in slang.

It’s very much a work in progress, but you can keep up with latest developments here.

Very much a work in progress; please ignore the horrendous design.

In order to do this, I’m having to retrieve a lot of information from a lot of different APIs. Which is a lot more stressful than you’d think.

The Feeling

What the hell, guys? I get that you’ve got to make your APIs secure and that there’s a whole bloated database plus branded widgets to project into the world but… couldn’t you have made it a little easier?

I’ve spent most of the last week tearing my hair out trying to even understand what to send where and how to…