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  TimelyBookCast

What I am looking at?

This is the codebase that drives the TimelyBookCast visible here https://studio.whenhub.com/schedules/5903f2abc832b42b945df6ac/timelybookcast

What is TimelyBookCast?

The TimelyBookCast app is a service that polls the PaperBackSwap (PBS) book trading site hourly. The latest book posted for trading is pushed to the Whencast as a new event. The book cover is used as the event image, and a call-to-action (CTA) button allows the user to visit the book page directly to order.

What the heck is PBS?

PBS is a service that allows users to mostly older, hard to find books by trading books they already own with fellow users. Each book sent out by a user (to another member) earns them a credit. That credit can then be used in turn to request another book. Users can also buy credits or earn credits through a paid membership. But more importantly to us, PBS also offers an API which allows developers to search, access user bookshelves, and other tasks.

How does it work?

Every hour, the following workflow kicks off: The getBook.js file fires a GET request to the PBS API and retrieves a JSON package with the latest book posted for trading. The details are passed to castBook.js, which posts the book details to the Whenhub schedule as an event using the Whenhub API. A subsequent call using castImage.js sends the book cover image to the Whenhub API as a media attachment for the newly-created event.

Where does it run?

The app runs on AWS as a timed Lambda function. This is very time and cost-efficient means of running the app, as it consumes minimal computational time (being run every hour). Lambda avoids us having to pay for idle cycles on a standard AWS server.

Built With

• javascript
• node.js
• whenhub