Using regular expressions and python to search twitter like a boss

1. webdesigner

2. Picture by Okinawa Soba

3. WHAT is REGEX
Regular Expressions
A special text string that
describes a search pattern

4. EXAMPLES
Find email address
(?:[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+/=?^_`{|}~-]+(?:.[a-z0-9!#$%&'*+/=?^_`
{|}~-]+)*|"(?:[x01-x08x0bx0cx0e-x1fx21x23-x5b
x5d-x7f]|[x01-x09x0bx0cx0e-x7f])*")@(?:(?:[a-
z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]*[a-z0-9])?.)+[a-z0-9](?:[a-z0-9-]*[a-
z0-9])?|[(?:(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?).)
{3}(?:25[0-5]|2[0-4][0-9]|[01]?[0-9][0-9]?|[a-z0-9-]*[a-
z0-9]:(?:[x01-x08x0bx0cx0e-x1fx21-x5ax53-x7f]|
[x01-x09x0bx0cx0e-x7f])+)])
✔ The Official Standard: RFC 2822

5. EXAMPLES
Find email address easier
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}

6. EXAMPLES
Find email address easier
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”

7. EXAMPLES
Find email address easier
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”
w[w._]+@[w.]+[.]w+{2,4}
“My email address is: stelian@firez.be”

8. WHAT is PYTHON
Life is short, use Python

9. WHO uses PYTHON
Google
Blender 3D
Civilization 4

10. WHY PYTHON
Lots of modules
Easy to read syntax
API wrappers
Great community

11. PYTHON does
click picture to open video

12. SEARCH TWITTER
API limitations
150 anonymous calls per hour
350 authenticated calls per hour
results from only the past 7 days
max 1500 results

13. SEARCH TWITTER
Requirements
minimum Python knowledge
Twitter API wrapper (twython)

14. EXAMPLES
Designers in Antwerpen
1 from twython import Twython
2 twitter = Twython()
3 search_results = twitter.searchTwitter(q="design",
since_id=0, rpp='100', geocode="51.21992,4.39625,10km",
page=1)
4
5 for tweet in search_results['results']):
6 print tweet[‘id’]
7 print tweet[‘created_at’]
8 print tweet[‘from_user’]
9 print tweet[‘profile_image_url’]
10 print tweet[‘text’]

15. EXAMPLES
Designers in Antwerpen
1 from twython import Twython
2 twitter = Twython()
3 user_info = twitter.getUserTimeline(id=tweet['from_user'])
[0]['user']
4 print user_info['name']
5 print user_info['time_zone']
6 print user_info['location']
7 print user_info['description']
8 print user_info['url']

16. http://regular-expressions.info
Sams Teach Yourself Regular Expressions in 10 Minutes
Python v2.6.6 documentation
Twython - Python wrapper for the Twitter API
Twitter Search API