Essential Facebook Development: Build Successful Applications for the Facebook Platform, Rough Cuts
- By John J. Maver, Cappy Popp
- Published May 26, 2009 by Addison-Wesley Professional. Part of the Developer's Library series.
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Description
- Copyright 2009
- Dimensions: 7 X 9
- Pages: 480
- Edition: 1st
- Rough Cuts
- ISBN-10: 0-321-63816-6
- ISBN-13: 978-0-321-63816-8
This is a working draft of a pre-release book. It is available before the published date as part of the Rough Cuts service.
“What sets this title apart is the authors’ deep insight of how to leverage the Facebook API to create wildly successful applications. They even provide instructions of how to a/b test, track, and analyze metrics to increase the exposure and engagement of your applications. Their knowledge is practical and after putting their techniques to use, my applications have achieved better results.”
–Joseph Annuzzi, Jr., App Architect, PeerDynamic.com
With more than 250 million active users, Facebook is the world’s #1 social networking platform. But developing successful Facebook applications presents unique challenges, both technical and nontechnical. Now, two of the world’s most experienced Facebook developers show you exactly how to meet those challenges. Essential Facebook Development offers insider guidance and up-to-the-minute best practices for the entire application lifecycle: design, coding, testing, distribution, post-launch monitoring, metrics, and even application marketing.
Using extensive real-world examples, John Maver and Cappy Popp reveal why some Facebook applications succeed brilliantly while others fail. Next, they walk through building a complete application using every major component of the Facebook platform. Maver and Popp thoroughly cover Facebook’s most important new features, including Facebook Connect, and provide extensive information available nowhere else–from measuring application success to monetization. Coverage includes
- Thorough introductions to Facebook’s current architecture, integration points, and development technologies
- Discussion of successful Facebook applications–and what makes them successful
- What every developer must know about Facebook’s Terms of Service
- Creating an effective application infrastructure
- Creating canvas pages with FBML and IFrames
- Adding support for profiles, application tabs, and messaging
- Incorporating JavaScript into Facebook applications with FBJS
- Integrating Facebook into external sites with Facebook Connect and the Facebook JavaScript Client Library
- Debugging techniques for Facebook applications
- Spreading, monitoring, and tuning applications
Sample Content
Table of Contents
Preface xvi
Part I: Introduction to Facebook Applications
Chapter 1: Facebook Applications: The Basics 3
Chapter 2: Making Great Applications 21
Chapter 3: Platform Architecture Overview 31
Chapter 4: Platform Developer Tools 49
Chapter 5: Facebook Terms of Service and Application Programs 69
Part II: Developing Applications
Chapter 6: The Basics of Creating Applications 83
Chapter 7: Building the Canvas 107
Chapter 8: Updating the Profile 133
Chapter 9: Feed Stories, Feed Forms, and Templates 155
Chapter 10: Publisher, Notifications, and Requests 193
Chapter 11: FBJS, Mock AJAX, and Flash 243
Part III: Integrating Facebook into an External Website
Chapter 12: Facebook JavaScript Client Library 315
Chapter 13: Facebook Connect 343
Part IV: Post Launch
Chapter 14: Measuring Application Success 369
Chapter 15: Spreading and Monetizing Applications 385
Chapter 16: Improving Application Performance and Workflow 399
Part V: Appendices
Appendix A: Resources 421
Appendix B: Beta Features 423
Index 427