Essential Facebook Development: Build Successful Applications for the Facebook Platform

Description

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

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