Facebook Application Development

	This article is a part of my series on

Facebook has recently grown as most popular social networking site. A large number of applications are currently running on Facebook, and much more are under construction. I also tried my hands on facebook application development and was surprised to see how less support is available for VB.NET based application development for facebook. So, from this article, I start a series on how to create good applications for facebook using Microsoft Visual Basic.NET.

 

Basic Abbreviations and terminology

FB	Often used as an abbreviation of facebook
FBML	Facebook Markup Language
XFBML	Extended Facebook Markup Language
FQL	Facebook Query Language (or Functional Query Language)
FBJS	Facebook JavaScript
Connect	Set of APIs so Facebook data can be accessed outside Facebook
Canvas	Area on facebook, where your application will run

(more terms will be explained in later articles)

 

Types of Application….

Applications that run inside facebook (CANVAS APPLICATIONS)

Application that run inside facebook can be of either iFrame type or FBML type. Though both can interchangeably be used (with some tweaking). These applications are also called facebook Canvas Applications

FBML is more like HTML, but with slightly changed syntax. You can use FBJS (facebook version of JavaScript) and FQL (Facebook version of SQL)

iFrame is a very beautiful way introduced by facebook. They simply call a URL within the facebook and you are free to play the way you want. If you want to incorporate FBML into an iFrame application or anywhere outside Facebook, you need to use a little more tweaked syntax called XFBML. FBJS and FQL are also supported here.

Application that run outside facebook (CONNECT APPLICATIONS)

Applications that run outside facebook (i.e. on your website, desktop or mobile phone) can access facebook data using facebook Connect. You can also use XFBML and FBJS where HTML or JavaScript is allowed. FQL helps everywhere.

 

For more information, visit http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/