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Book Description

Social networking has made one thing clear: websites and applications need to provide users with experiences tailored to their preferences. This in-depth guide shows you how to build rich social frameworks, using open source technologies and specifications. You’ll learn how to create third-party applications for existing sites, build engaging social graphs, and develop products to host your own socialized experience.

Programming Social Apps focuses on the OpenSocial platform, along with Apache Shindig, OAuth, OpenID, and other tools, demonstrating how they work together to help you solve practical issues. Each chapter uncovers a new layer in the construction of highly viral social applications and platforms.

• Learn how to build applications on top of social containers, and leverage existing user data
• Map user relationships with a social graph, and extend social links between users
• Customize your application with user profile information and encourage growth through friendships
• Build a scalable social application container with OpenSocial and Shindig
• Dive into advanced OpenSocial topics such as templating and data pipelining methods
• Protect your container and its users against malicious code

About the Author
Jonathan LeBlanc is a technology evangelist and principal software engineer working with the Yahoo! Developer Network in Sunnyvale, California. Specializing in open source initiatives around the implementation of social engagement services Download Now »

Book Description

In The Developer’s Guide to Social Programming, Mark Hawker shows developers how to build applications that integrate with the major social networking sites. Unlike competitive books that focus on a single social media platform, this book covers all three leading platforms: Facebook, OpenSocial, and Twitter. Hawker identifies the characteristics of superior, highly engaging social media applications, and shows how to use the Facebook platform, Google Friend Connect, and the Twitter API to create them.

You’ll find practical solutions and code for addressing many common social programming challenges, from site registration to search, blog commenting to creating location-based applications. Hawker concludes by walking you through building a complete, integrated social application: one that works seamlessly across all leading platforms, and draws on powerful features from each. Coverage includes

• Working with the Twitter API, including the Search API, Lists API, and Retweets API
• Authenticating users with Twitter OAuth
• Mastering the Facebook API, FQL, and XFBML
• Utilizing the Facebook JavaScript Library for creating dynamic content, and animation
• Exploring the Google Friend Connect JavaScript API, and integrating with the OpenSocial API
• Using Facebook’s tools for sharing, social commenting, stream publishing, and live conversation
• Using the PHP OpenSocial Client Library with Google Friend Connect Download Now »

Book Description

OpenSocial is a set of common application programming interfaces for Web-based social network applications. As the first book on OpenSocial, this valuable resource discusses the unique area of social networking and the needs and different attributes of social network applications. You?ll get step-by-step instructions for creating OpenSocial applications for multiple platforms and explore application development and deployment using integration technologies like the new Sun Zembly Platform. Plus, you?ll examine newer technologies like the Sun Platform that allows even non-programmers the ability to ?mash up? applications.

As a new and exciting platform for creating and deploying social networking applications on multiple networks, OpenSocial is a set of common Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that can be used on MySpace, hi5, imeem, Friendster, Netlog, orkut, and more. This book walks you through the creation of engaging social network applications using OpenSocial, and provides you with a behind-the-scenes look into the creation of applications for the most popular social networks using OpenSocial.

Following an introduction that discusses what a social network application is and how applications can be found in different platforms, you’ll discover some of the most popular techniques used for creating both “social” and “viral” applications. You’ll gain an understanding of the OpenSocial architecture (including both client and server APIs) and OpenSocial data formats. Packed with code examples and tips and tricks from industry experts, this resource will put you on your way to quickly creating social networking applications with OpenSocial. Download Now »

Book Description

When you write OpenSocial applications for MySpace, you can reach millions of users overnight. Building OpenSocial Apps shows you how, one step at a time. Whether you’re building casual widgets or feature-rich, professional applications, this book will teach you everything you need to know.

The authors are the leading experts on OpenSocial and MySpace and have personally helped construct the MySpace platform and OpenSocial standards. In this indispensable book, they walk you through the entire process of building apps, from signing up through building complex apps that can scale to thousands of users and interoperate on more than fifty social networks, such as Hi5, Orkut, and LinkedIn. They demonstrate today’s best practices for building OpenSocial applications and present dozens of tips for leveraging both MySpace and OpenSocial to their fullest. Coverage includes

• Installing and working with the MySpace Developer Platform
• Retrieving, parsing, and displaying user data, friend lists, and photos
• Sending App invitations and notifications
• Building mashups that communicate with third-party web services
• Marketing your App and building your user base Download Now »