test_socket.py

import socket
import json

while True:
    port = 7777
    if str(raw_input('tag or title?  ')) == 'title':
        port = 7778

    host = 'localhost'
    if str(raw_input('remote or local?  ')) == 'remote':
        host = 'helix.vis.uky.edu'

    s = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_STREAM)
    s.connect((host, port))

    tag = str(raw_input('find word: '))
    if tag == '':
        break

    # send the json request for a socket
    s.send(json.dumps({'query':tag}))

    # tell the other end of the socket that I'm done writing
    s.shutdown(socket.SHUT_WR)

    #recieve the response
    try:
        data = bytes()
        while True:
            new_data = s.recv(1024)
            if not new_data: break
            data += new_data
        s.close()
        s = None
        data = str(data)
    except Exception as e:
        print e

    print data
    data_obj = json.loads(data)
    print "Length: " + str(len(data_obj['posts']))