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Python Build a Social Network with Flask Broadcasting Stream Views

Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
5,070 Points
Posted by Joseph Banks
Joseph Banks
5,070 Points

user.posts vs. user.get_stream()

Why are two different approaches used to get the user's posts in this video? For the current user, the method, get_stream(), is used and for all other users, the posts attribute is used.

1 Answer

Chris Freeman
MOD
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points
Chris Freeman
Chris Freeman
Treehouse Moderator 68,441 Points

It comes down to convenience. In the User model there are get_posts() and get_stream() methods. The former returns just this user's posts and the latter return this user's post plus the posts of those being followed.

So the more direct question might be why user.posts vs. user.get_posts()? It comes down to the desire to limit the number off posts to 100. Since the get_posts() method didn't have a way to limit the number of returned posts, Kenneth chose to used the direct coding method of user.posts.limit(100) vs. rewriting the method in the User model.

All three get_posts(), get_stream() and current_user.get_stream().limit(100) all return a queryset of posts. The difference only being which set of posts are return.