Building Facebook Applications For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) [Paperback]

Richard Wagner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 10, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470277955 | ISBN-13: 978-0470277959 | Edition: 1

There’s no doubt about it — Facebook is cool. Along with users who want to interact with friends, businesses are using Facebook as a marketing and networking tool. And if you’re a Web developer, you probably know there’s a demand for Facebook applications. If you have some basic knowledge of Web client technology, such as HTML, JavaScript, or CSS, and know how to use a Web programming language, Building Facebook Applications For Dummies is just what you need to start building apps for Facebook.

This friendly guide helps you create applications to reach Facebook’s huge audience, so you can enlarge your list of friends, introduce people to your product or service, or network with other business professionals. You’ll find out how to:

• Work with the Facebook API
• Build applications that take advantage of Facebook’s News Feed and Wall
• Migrate existing Web applications to Facebook
• Create mobile apps for Facebook
• Use Facebook’s markup and query languages
• Get your app noticed by Facebook users

A handy companion Web site includes code samples, starter applications, and other useful information about building Facebook apps. Whether you want to create applications for business purposes or just for fun, Building Facebook Applications For Dummies is the fun and easy way to get started.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wagner gives a fun and easy way to get started building applications for this vast horde of potential buyers." (The Bookseller, Friday 14th March)

From the Back Cover

Use the Facebook Platform to create exciting apps

Build applications that take advantage of Facebook's News Feed and Wall

With Facebook, social networking sites have grown up. Now they're an important marketing tool as well as being just plain fun. This friendly book helps you create applications to reach Facebook's huge audience, so you can enlarge your list of friends, introduce people to your product or service, or network with other business professionals.

Discover how to:

• Work with the Facebook API

• Migrate existing Web applications to Facebook

• Create mobile apps for Facebook

• Get your app noticed by Facebook users

• Use Facebook's markup and query languages

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 342 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (June 10, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470277955
• ISBN-13: 978-0470277959
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #798,441 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I have authored several books, focusing on two very different aspects of my life and professional focus. On the faith front, I am author of "The Expeditionary Man", "The Myth of Happiness", and several "For Dummies" books designed to make meaty truth easily approachable for postmodern readers. These books include "C.S. Lewis & Narnia For Dummies", "Christianity For Dummies", and "Christian Prayer For Dummies".

On the technology front, I have authored several web tech books as well, such as "Adobe AIR For Dummies", "XSLT For Dummies" and "Building Facebook Applications For Dummies".

I work as Senior Developer for Maark, a strategic and interactive B2B marketing firm in Boston. Previously, I was V.P. of Product Development at NetObjects, an Internet software company, as well as inventor/architect of NetObjects ScriptBuilder.

I graduated from Taylor University and pursued graduate studies at American University. Though a native Hoosier, I now live in Princeton, Massachusetts with my wife and three boys.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Facebook Developer Secondary Source, March 25, 2009

By 

Eric M. Mcdonald "Mavrick" (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Building Facebook Applications For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) (Paperback)

"Building Facebook Applications for Dummies" is a great book to get started on if you want to create your own Facebook applications in PHP. Topics include: FBML,Faceboook API, FQL, Connecting to a MySQL database, and tips/tricks/examples.

Some of the material though is outdated given that facebook social networking standards are always changing. This book is about 1yr old. Buy a cheap used copy as a secondary reference (I bought one used for $2.63 + shipping on amazon.com).

If you want the best, latest, and greatest Facebook developer book then I would highly recommend:
"Facebook Cookbook: Building Applications to Grow Your Facebook Empire" by Jay Goldman as a primary source.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the lot, so far, for beginning Facebook application developers, April 10, 2009

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Building Facebook Applications For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) (Paperback)

I've been trying to learn about Facebook both from a user's perspective and that of a developer. Why? Because any service with 200 million users is something I will run into in my work - and it looks like fun.

I've read several books on Facebook application development and this is the best I've seen so far. (I still have several to go, so my opinion may change.)

Author Richard Wagner takes a matter of fact approach and begins with the essentials, something other books oddly fail to do. One immediate standout feature is Wagner's diagramming and explaining Facebook's application architecture. Several other books omit this entirely or give it short shrift. Wagner diagrams it plainly and clearly and it helps.

Wagner deliberately restricts the scope of his book, again in contrast to other authors who try to include something on every language usable with Facebook. I prefer Wagner's "small steps" first approach. It is much easier to deal with and offers more depth, I think.

He starts off with building a very simple Facebook application and then moves into specific discussions of the Facebook API, FBTML, FQL and FJS. Don't recognize these terms? Don't worry: Wagner explains them thoroughly in easily understandable language with plenty of examples and illustrations.

There's as lot more and all of it is good.

But there is a drawback: Facebook is in a constant state of development and things change, sometimes massively. That happened recently and has many people upset for a variety of reasons.

In any event, some of the thins in this book are obsolete. That doesn't detract from its overall usefulness, though.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to understand the Facebook application development process.

Jerry

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best book for Building Facebook Apps I have found so far, July 27, 2008

By 

Fussbucket (Mission Viejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Building Facebook Applications For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) (Paperback)

The is the best book for Building Facebook Apps I have found so far, yet it won't help you if you plan to integrate Flash as the app to display profiles, friends, etc. In fact, I have yet to find a book that helps you with that. Fortunately the FB Dev forums are very helpful and there are several good online sources that cover pretty much everything you can think of doing in FB, including Flash integration. This book is a good reference and doe sit a decent job showing how to build your first basic app.