Building a Translation CLI Tool: Navigating API Complexity and Finding Simpler Solutions
By
ezekg
4mo ago· 14 min readenInsight
100/100
Golden Brown
Bagelometer↗
Crackling crust, pillowy middle. The kind of bagel that earns a second cup of coffee.
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Summary
The article details the author's frustrating experience trying to build a simple command-line translation tool using various translation APIs. After encountering numerous obstacles with different services (Google Translate, Microsoft Azure, DeepL), including complex authentication, confusing documentation, and unexpected costs, the author eventually discovers a simpler solution using Apple's built-in translation capabilities. The piece serves as both a technical tutorial and a critique of overly complex API implementations that hinder developers from accomplishing simple tasks.
Key quotes
· 5 pulledA hungry ghost trapped in a jar can probably figure it out in one shot.
I was ready to give up. I was ready to accept that maybe I'm not smart enough to figure this out.
The documentation is a mess. It's confusing, it's contradictory, and it's full of dead ends.
I was about to give up when I remembered that Apple has its own translation service.
The moral of the story is that sometimes the simplest solution is the best one.
or: Writing a Translation Command Line Tool in Swift.
