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Facebook Application Development Tutorials

Facebook Technologies: Industry Standards / PHP for Facebook




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Now, these are the files that you download from Facebook and the primary ones that you're using are Facebook.php, which is the Facebook object which in turns creates the RESTLib PHP object from that file. If you look at the naming conventions of this file, the RESTLib file, you can see that PHP 5 is part of the naming convention. This is brought in from Facebook.php and the standard RESTLib now is based on PHP 5. Fine; not too long ago it used to be based on PHP 4 and then for a period of time we had both PHP 4 and PHP 5 supported. In addition, we had Java supported. There are other interfaces that are supported so if you want to be working with something other than PHP, if you can find a client library, the REST Library implemented in some other language on some other platform, you can use it and Facebook encourages this. But on the Facebook side, Facebook is currently supporting PHP 5, period. What will it support tomorrow? It's probably a good guess that PHP 6 is coming down the pike and we'll stay in the PHP world for a long time because so much depends on it in the Facebook world. But if you go to the Developer Page and look for Resources, you will find a number of third party RESTLibs using other technologies that are available for download and that you can use. You can also build your own. You don't have to use PHP. But the idea that these files are performing the REST interface between your application on your website and Facebook on its website, in the middle, the link between the two is REST and how you implement it doesn't really matter to Facebook as long as it is implemented. If you can find an implementation of the Facebook interface using REST that is written in COBAL, theoretically you could use it. However, I'm not certain that such an interface exists. But you are not limited to PHP. You are limited in the version that you can use and you will have to periodically but not very often upgrade to a new version of the RESTLib. The RESTLib may be upgraded at various points not just for a new version of PHP but to implement new features in Facebook. Facebook tries to be very careful not to break things. But if you are enhancing an application like Facebook or a platform, which is really what Facebook is, as you make enhancement, even if you're not breaking things, for people to use new things like the new features of the Profile Pages, they will have to update to a new library and what has happened with Facebook is they have tried in many cases such as with the new Facebook Profile Pages, when new features are on those Profile Pages, the existing code often still works and either does what it did before or does what would be appropriate for the new interface now. All you have to do is move in the new REST Library and usually a new Facebook object. And the one thing that you must not do, which you can probably figure out, is don't play around in here. If you want to develop your own REST Library for COBAL or for any other language, fine, do it. But if you mess with the PHP, the standard major REST Library, if you mess with it and a new version comes out, you're going to have to figure out how to apply your changes to that new version so don't mess with it or as they say in the DRUPAL world, don't hack the core.

Tutorial Information

Course: Facebook Application Development
Author: Jesse Feiler
SKU: 34058
ISBN: 1-935320-81-5
Release Date: 2009-11-23
Duration: 7.5 hrs / 92 lessons
Work Files: Yes
Captions: Available on CD and Online University
Compatibility: Vista/XP/2000, OS X, Linux
QuickTime 7, Flash 8

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