Pokemon API

Mix.install([
  {:jason, "~> 1.4"},
  {:kino, "~> 0.9", override: true},
  {:youtube, github: "brooklinjazz/youtube"},
  {:hidden_cell, github: "brooklinjazz/hidden_cell"},
  {:finch, "~> 0.16.0"}
])

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Pokemon API

When we rely on an external API, it’s possible for them to change the format of a response, and have that cause issues for our application.

That’s why it’s often important to translate information from an API into a struct when we retrieve it. This way if the format of the API response changes then we can fix the issue in a single spot where we convert the API response into a struct. We can also keep only the information we want, rather than all of the data returned.

Often, certain APIs will have a language-specific implementation that makes it easier to interact with the API.

You’re going to create a Pokelixir project which uses the Pokemon API to return Elixir-friendly Pokemon structs.

Initialize The Mix Project

Create a new Pokelixir mix project.

mix new pokelixir

Add Finch and Jason as dependencies. Ensure you add Finch to your application’s supervision tree as documented on the Finch GitHub.

Define A Pokemon Struct

A Pokemon struct should have the following (required) keys. We’ve included the types for clarity, you do not need to implement data validation.

classDiagram
  class Pokemon {
    id: integer
    name: string
    hp: integer
    attack: integer
    defense: integer
    special_attack: integer
    special_defense: integer
    speed: integer
    weight: integer
    height: integer
    types: list of strings
  }

Here’s that data represented as a Pokemon struct.

%Pokemon{
  id: 6,
  name: "charizard",
  hp: 78,
  attack: 84,
  defense: 78,
  special_attack: 109,
  special_defense: 85,
  speed: 100,
  height: 17,
  weight: 905,
  types: ["fire", "flying"]
}

Get A Pokemon

Using the Pokemon API, you can retrieve information about a pokemon using the following URL where name is the name of the pokemon.

https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/name

For example, you can retrieve the stats for charizard by making an HTTP GET request to the following URL.

https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/charizard

You should be able to retrieve the data for a pokemon and return it as a Pokemon struct.

Pokelixir.get("charizard")

Get All Pokemon

You can retrieve a list of pokemon using the following URL.

https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon

By default, this URL only shows the the first 20 pokemon, and provides a "next" URL to retrieve the next 20 pokemon. This is a common pagination strategy to avoid loading too much data at once.

Response Example

{
  "count": 1154,
  "next": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon?offset=20&limit=20",
  "previous": null,
  "results": [
    {
    "name": "bulbasaur",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/1/"
    },
    {
    "name": "ivysaur",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/2/"
    },
    {
    "name": "venusaur",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/3/"
    },
    {
    "name": "charmander",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/4/"
    },
    {
    "name": "charmeleon",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/5/"
    },
    {
    "name": "charizard",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/6/"
    },
    {
    "name": "squirtle",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/7/"
    },
    {
    "name": "wartortle",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/8/"
    },
    {
    "name": "blastoise",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/9/"
    },
    {
    "name": "caterpie",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/10/"
    },
    {
    "name": "metapod",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/11/"
    },
    {
    "name": "butterfree",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/12/"
    },
    {
    "name": "weedle",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/13/"
    },
    {
    "name": "kakuna",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/14/"
    },
    {
    "name": "beedrill",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/15/"
    },
    {
    "name": "pidgey",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/16/"
    },
    {
    "name": "pidgeotto",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/17/"
    },
    {
    "name": "pidgeot",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/18/"
    },
    {
    "name": "rattata",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/19/"
    },
    {
    "name": "raticate",
    "url": "https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/20/"
    }
  ]
}

Each pokemon in the results list also has a URL you can use to get information about each pokemon.

https://pokeapi.co/api/v2/pokemon/6/

You should be able to return a list of Pokemon structs for every pokemon.

Pokemon.all()

Hint

You can either recursively retrieve the next 20 pokemon using the "next" url, or you can make a request using the limit query parameter with a larger value than the number of pokemon.

GitHub Repository

Connect your Pokelixir project to a GitHub repository and create a README to describe the purpose of the project and what you learned building it.

Consider refactoring, adding documentation, and testing if you have not already to make this an even better resume project.

Commit Your Progress

DockYard Academy now recommends you use the latest Release rather than forking or cloning our repository.

Run git status to ensure there are no undesirable changes. Then run the following in your command line from the curriculum folder to commit your progress.

$ git add .
$ git commit -m "finish Pokemon API exercise"
$ git push

We’re proud to offer our open-source curriculum free of charge for anyone to learn from at their own pace.

We also offer a paid course where you can learn from an instructor alongside a cohort of your peers. We will accept applications for the June-August 2023 cohort soon.

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