Flickr Mashups

Expert Flickr developer David Wilkinson guides you through a series of software projects that show you how to build mashups using the popular photo service Flickr. He explains the process of remixing Flickr on your own web site and then mashing it up. Along the way, you'll learn how to take advantage of mashup technologies such as REST, Ajax, RSS, and JSON. Plus, hands-on examples will help you gain the skills to design a variety of remixes and mashups that take advantage of Flickr's core services.

Why wait for Flickr to offer the features and functionality that you need when you can create them on your own Expert Flickr developer David Wilkinson guides you step-by-step through a series of software projects that show you how to build mashups using this popular photo service. He clearly explains the process of remixing Flickr on your own web site and then mashing it up. Along the way, you''ll learn how to take advantage of mashup technologies such as REST, Ajax, RSS, and JSON.

From finding photographs and illustrating news feeds to displaying your photos on Google® Maps, you''ll discover how to develop a wide range of projects using content from both Flickr and other sources. You''ll also gain the skills to design a variety of remixes and mashups that take advantage of Flickr''s core services. With the help of numerous hands-on examples integrated throughout the pages, you''ll understand how things work so you can quickly produce your own innovative applications.

What you will learn from this book:

• How to use feeds to retrieve photo details
• Methods for using the Flickr API to access items such as tags, sets, groups, and interestingness
• How to use Flickr authentication to access private photos and update information
• How to upload photos from your own applications
• Ways to remix the Flickr web site with Firefox® and Greasemonkey
• Different ways to display photos using ImageMagick
• Techniques for building complex systems that use Flickr as a source of information
• Tips for improving software performance and scalability

Who this book is for

This book is for web developers who have some prior experience with a language such as PHP, JavaScript, or Perl. Everything in the book is explained in detail along with source code, which makes this a useful resource regardless of your experience level.

David Wilkinson is a highly skilled freelance technical consultant and programmer with more than 20 years' experience in the IT industry, delivering business-critical systems to many blue-chip companies, including BP, Jaguar, Land Rover, Tesco, and Lloyds TSB. He also acts as operations manager at Utata, a community web site supporting photographers all over the world, and is responsible for the operation of the Utata site and its integration with Flickr. A keen amateur photographer, he discovered Flickr in its very early days and been a staunch advocate of it ever since.