Create a PHP-based Twitter Client with the PEAR Services_Twitter

"Like many developers, I tend to be pretty exacting when it comes to my programming environment. My disdain for any application that doesn't work exactly as I expect it to extends well beyond development-specific tools, which was the primary motivation behind migrating my laptops to Ubuntu a year or so ago. The ability to tweak every conceivable aspect of the operating system -- not to mention the broad selection of open source and commercial applications -- has resulted in an enormous productivity boost and I'm immensely happy about making the switch.

"One minor source of pain I've encountered with Ubuntu is in regards to the availability of Linux-based Twitter clients. I try to post several updates weekly, most of which point readers to my latest Developer.com and PHPBuilder articles (for updates follow me at @wjgilmore), and the existing clients so far have not fit my particular workflow. This isn't to say there aren't any quality clients; on the contrary there are many, including TweetDeck. However, as I'm the exacting sort, I wanted to create something that met a very specific set of requirements.

"At the same time, entirely reinventing the wheel seems foolhardy, and so I wanted to base the project on a solid foundation, including a quality PHP-based Twitter library. That library turned out to be PEAR's Services_Twitter package. In this article I'll introduce you to this powerful package, which although still in beta already offers all of the features you'll need whether you want to build your own Twitter client or simply add Twitter-specific functionality to an existing application. I'll also talk about some of the finer points involved in creating a Twitter client that might be used in conjunction with multiple accounts."

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