While Chasr is a specific solution to a very broad problem, it’s not always the best solution. Instead, using the Flickr API in conjunction with a programming language such as PHP can provide a customized solution that fits your exact needs. Building your own Flickr application with PHP can be a daunting task, but Rob Kunkle and Andrew Morton’s “Building Flickr Applications with PHP” makes the ordeal much easier.
Chapters
Chapter 1 introduces Flickr, PHP, and Phlickr, the latter being a PHP 5 library written by co-author Andrew Morton to interact with the Flickr API. This was an intelligent move by the authors: with the inclusion of a library, some of the basic and harder to program details of interacting with the Flickr API are automatically taken care of (note: Chasr itself uses a different PHP library) and it makes the experience more enjoyable.
Chapter 2 is an overview of Flickr’s features. While one shouldn’t purchase this book on this chapter alone, it’s not one to skip either; most likely, you’ll learn a thing or two about Flickr in this chapter (I personally learned about some key shortcuts to use in the organizer).
Chapter 3 introduces the installation process for Apache, PHP, and Phlickr on Windows and Linux. The explanations are in-depth and take a step-by-step approach, instead of brushing over small details (that end up to be the most important). This chapter also reviews Flickr’s API keys and authentication system; one might not think this is noteworthy, but the authentication system can be confusing at times. It’s useful to have a reference for it.
Chapter 4 is “a whirlwind, whistle-stop tour of the PHP language” that manages to avoid topic creep. It won’t reveal the idiosyncrasies of PHP, but that’s not the purpose: the purpose is to enable one to use PHP as it is used in the book, and this chapter does a very good job of that.
Chapter 5 begins the hands-on experimentation with the Flickr API. Throughout this chapter (and the rest of the book), one can find two main headings for each subtopic: “Try It Out:” and “How It Works.” This is a surprisingly great structure for learning how to do things with the Flickr API by diving into a bit of code first and following up with a thorough explanation of how that code worked (in English!).
Chapter 5 covers working with photos, Chapter 6 delves into photo sets, Chapter 7 talks about tags, and Chapter 8 looks at working with syndication feeds. These four chapters are the heart of working with the Flickr API in this book, and cover subjects from retrieving photos for a portfolio to adding tags while uploading a photo.
Chapter 8 is the weakest chapter of the book, although it could also be one of the most useful chapters if you don’t necessarily take advantage of the whole book. Chapter 8 doesn’t have the same type of examples as Chapters 5—7, but it does demonstrate how to create an e-mail from a feed from Flickr. I call this the weakest chapter because the example script could have been built without relying on a Flickr feed; it probably would have been faster and more in line with the rest of the book if the authors had made the feed themselves. However, this Chapter is personally one of the more important chapters to me: the authors show code for example feeds that one could make oneself with what one has learned with the past seven chapters. But, don’t let my complaint be a detractor from buying this book: the book has so many strong points that it’s easy to overlook this flaw.
Chapter 9, the last in the book, covers groups on Flickr and how one might create a website for a group (Chasr for groups, if you will). The chapter fits in with the other chapters in its level of thoroughness and taking advantage of what has been discussed in previous chapters.
In conclusion
Overall, this book is exceptional at starting almost anyone with Flickr and PHP. The authors are understandable, the book is easy on the eyes, and the code is solid; the online resources are also a big plus. If you’re interested in building your own application with Flickr, then picking up this book is a good first step to having fun with Flickr.
