Essential Facebook Development: Build Successful Applications for the Facebook Platform

“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

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  Thorough introductions to Facebook’s current architecture, integration points, and development technologies
  
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  Discussion of successful Facebook applications–and what makes them successful
  
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  What every developer must know about Facebook’s Terms of Service
  
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  Creating an effective application infrastructure
  
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  Creating canvas pages with FBML and IFrames
  
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  Adding support for profiles, application tabs, and messaging
  
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  Incorporating JavaScript into Facebook applications with FBJS
  
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  Integrating Facebook into external sites with Facebook Connect and the Facebook JavaScript Client Library
  
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  Debugging techniques for Facebook applications
  
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  Spreading, monitoring, and tuning applications
  

John Maver has been involved with the Facebook, Bebo, and MySpace platforms from the time they were released, and he has written several successful applications. He has been a speaker at conferences and webinars about Facebook development and was the Featured Developer for the Bebo platform in the spring of 2008. As cofounder and Principal of Thought Labs, John has worked with small businesses and Fortune 100 companies to find the right goals, strategies, and implementations for their social media campaigns. Prior to specializing in social media, John spent ten years leading software-development teams and building award-winning software-debugging products. 

Cappy Popp frequently speaks about Facebook and other topics at conferences such as GSP East, MITX, Social Media Business School, and others. He has been developing popular applications for Facebook and other social networking platforms since they launched. Cappy also cofounded Thought Labs, where he’s implemented many thriving social media solutions for clients of all sizes, from small businesses to some of the world’s largest companies. In addition to “budding author,” Cappy has enjoyed many careers, including executive chef, principal software engineer of award-winning debugging tools, and flourishing entrepreneur. Alright, he’s still working on that last one…. In his comically fleeting spare time, he is a die-hard foodie with a passion for ethnic cuisine.