Twitter OAuth Authentication Without Third Party Libraries

Ever since Twitter ditched version 1 of their API to version 1.1, an additional hurdle created when attempting to get any data from Twitter. Authentication (using OAuth) is now required on all API request endpoints. I can see why Twitter decided to go down this route but it does add a little headache when carrying out the most simplest requests.

In all the sites I have worked on, I've always relied on third party libraries to help me interact with Twitter, such as Twitterizer (no v1.1 support) and TweetSharp. But due to the increased complexity on some of the sites I've been working on, third party libraries don't seem to cut the mustard any more. A more scalable solution is required...

I came across a really simple and expandable class library called OAuthTwitterWrapper that stemmed from a StackOverflow question I found. Out-of-the-box, this library contains calls required to retrieve a user's timeline and return searches which is great to get you up and running quickly.

The OAuthTwitterWrapper provided me a really good basis to add further Twitter features, for example a list of users favourite tweets.

If you don't plan on doing anything too complex when interacting with the Twitter API, third party libraries such as TweetSharp will meet your everyday needs. However, if you want more control over how you make requests, the OAuthTwitterWrapper provides a good foundation.