The idea
I've had this idea about creating an application to post to platforms like Mastodon and Instagram, and maybe others, for some time now. I have removed most distracting apps from my phone, but sometimes I would like to post stuff, but without the risc of doom scrolling for hours.
I know there probably are plenty of apps or services that can post for me, but maybe not without being able to see content.
So the initial goal for this project and/or application is:
- Form for creating a post that through APIs is publishing to selected platforms
- Form for updating about/profile description on selected platforms
- List notifications from platforms
- Learn more about TDD
- Learn more about APIs
Since I'm a PHP developer and I like Laravel, the application will be build in Laravel. I've never done actual TDD (test driven development), so I would like to use this project for diving deeper into that as well.
These blog posts
I've asked on Mastodon, if people would be interested in reading blog posts about this process, and the answers are actually pretty positive, never experienced this kind of interaction on Twitter or Instagram, even from my relative few followers.
These posts has multiple purpose.
Knowledge sharing
Maybe someone out here on the great internet can learn from this process. Either from my thoughts or even from the code.
Learning process
It is a good opportunity for me to learn new stuff, and by writing it down, I might be able to remember it better and it might even make me think about issues or other solutions, like a digital rubber duck.
Personal development
I don't see myself as some kind of PHP or Laravel godlike developer in anyway, so I have always kept pretty quite online, even in person, about how my projects are build, but I feel like I could have something to share, and this could push me a bit out of my comfort zone and build just a little more confidence. And I know, someone will probably troll me along the way, but I think I can live with that.
Final notes
This project is purely a personal project, I have no intentions of this being the new big thing, and in the beginning it will be in a private repository, but somewhere along the way, I intend to make it public, so others can use it, extend it, learn from it or maybe just laugh at it.
So keep checking in if you want to follow along, I will post updates about these blog posts on Mastodon, so go follow me there on https://phpc.social/@ash.
// ASH