Step by Step Guide to Building a Sendy API Integration in C#

Introduction

Hey there, fellow developer! Ready to supercharge your email marketing game with Sendy? Let's dive into building a robust C# integration for Sendy's API. This guide assumes you're already familiar with C# and have a knack for APIs. We'll keep things concise and focused on the good stuff.

Prerequisites

Before we jump in, make sure you've got:

• A Sendy account with an API key
• Your favorite C# development environment
• NuGet package manager

Setting up the project

Fire up your IDE and create a new C# project. We'll be using RestSharp to handle our HTTP requests, so go ahead and install it via NuGet:

Install-Package RestSharp

Implementing the Sendy API client

Let's create a SendyClient class to handle our API interactions:

public class SendyClient
{
    private readonly string _apiKey;
    private readonly string _baseUrl;
    private readonly RestClient _client;

    public SendyClient(string apiKey, string baseUrl)
    {
        _apiKey = apiKey;
        _baseUrl = baseUrl;
        _client = new RestClient(baseUrl);
    }

    // We'll add more methods here soon!
}

Core API functionalities

Now, let's implement some key functionalities:

Subscribing a user

public async Task<bool> SubscribeUser(string email, string listId)
{
    var request = new RestRequest("subscribe", Method.Post);
    request.AddParameter("api_key", _apiKey);
    request.AddParameter("email", email);
    request.AddParameter("list", listId);

    var response = await _client.ExecuteAsync(request);
    return response.IsSuccessful && response.Content == "1";
}

Unsubscribing a user

public async Task<bool> UnsubscribeUser(string email, string listId)
{
    var request = new RestRequest("unsubscribe", Method.Post);
    request.AddParameter("api_key", _apiKey);
    request.AddParameter("email", email);
    request.AddParameter("list", listId);

    var response = await _client.ExecuteAsync(request);
    return response.IsSuccessful && response.Content == "1";
}

Error handling and response parsing

Sendy's API responses are straightforward, but let's add some error handling:

private void HandleApiError(RestResponse response)
{
    if (!response.IsSuccessful)
    {
        throw new Exception($"API request failed: {response.ErrorMessage}");
    }

    if (response.Content != "1")
    {
        throw new Exception($"API error: {response.Content}");
    }
}

Advanced features

Let's add a method to retrieve subscriber lists:

public async Task<List<string>> GetSubscriberLists()
{
    var request = new RestRequest("lists", Method.Get);
    request.AddParameter("api_key", _apiKey);

    var response = await _client.ExecuteAsync(request);
    HandleApiError(response);

    return JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<List<string>>(response.Content);
}

Testing the integration

Always test your code! Here's a quick unit test example:

[Fact]
public async Task SubscribeUser_ValidInput_ReturnsTrue()
{
    var client = new SendyClient("your_api_key", "your_base_url");
    var result = await client.SubscribeUser("[email protected]", "your_list_id");
    Assert.True(result);
}

Best practices and optimization

Remember to implement rate limiting to avoid hitting Sendy's API too hard. Also, use async operations for better performance, especially when dealing with multiple API calls.

Conclusion

And there you have it! You've just built a solid foundation for integrating Sendy's API into your C# projects. Feel free to expand on this, add more features, and tailor it to your specific needs. Happy coding, and may your email campaigns be ever successful!