Mark Hawker

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since Apr 07, 2010
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Recent posts by Mark Hawker

Henry Wong wrote:First, a big thanks to Mark Hawker for being here to promote the book The Developer's Guide to Social Programming.


Thank you, Henry. And everyone that made it an enjoyable week this week.

I shall keep popping back to see how everyone is doing when I can.

For those who are on Facebook you can become a fan of the book here to be kept up-to-date with future progressions. From there you'll find the book's microblog and Twitter account.

Again, congratulations to the winners and thank you, JavaRanch for being great hosts.

Vyas Sanzgiri wrote:Yup..I have tried Google Friend Connect


And...

What did you hope to happen and what actually happened?

Vyas Sanzgiri wrote:Is there any online tool that integrates all social networks together.


I don't think so, Vyas. Apart from ping.fm that you mention. Google Friend Connect lets you connect many accounts to your Google Profile which can be used for posting but this does not include Facebook. Sometimes the only way is to create a custom solution.
If you do need any further advice I'm happy to help, Derek. Later today/tomorrow I'll post a link to my Facebook Page where you can keep up-to-date with the progressions of the book.

As for best-practice I'd definitely take a look at the big sites that are using Facebook and see what functionalities they use.

Good luck!
Hey, Teena.

Teena Ashar wrote:... the API compatible for LinkedIn Social Networking site is not available in the "Developer's guide to Social Programming" Book. Any specific reason for the same? Appreciate your response.


I think the short answer is really that you can't cover everything. However, since LinkedIn is an OpenSocial container the principles you'll pick up in the section on Google Friend Connect is mostly compatible with LinkedIn. This is also true of sites like Bebo and Ning (for as long as they're around). Just so that you know, any web site can make itself into an OpenSocial container so you're not restricted to platforms such as LinkedIn for development. Being versed in the APIs for OpenSocial will help you learn about the general functionalities of these containers and you can then look into features specific to LinkedIn, for example.

Does that help? In short, I couldn't cover everything but what I did cover will be a base upon which to build on and specialise in.

Gregg Bolinger wrote:My biggest concern with integrating with Twitter right now is how they are treating 3rd party developers as of late. I'm just not inclined to include Twitter unless absolutely necessary, until things get sorted out.


I think you're right there, Gregg. A lot has been discussed in the Twitter's developer forums since the acquisition of Tweetie. Each of the platforms does have the potential to pull the rugs from the feet of developers at any time. Facebook has continually been retracting its functionalities for some time to streamline its services to its users. What you do get with Twitter is a popular (at the moment) service which is looking to expand but to what expense to its developers?
Has anyone been watching the Twitter Chirp Developer Conference?

They are releasing a JavaScript-based feature called @anywhere which enables you to add Twitter functionality directly into your web sites. At the minute this includes basic functionality such as sign-in, following and tweeting but will be added to in the future.

What are people's thoughts on this advancement?
Hey, Derek.

Derek Chow wrote:Does your book (The Developer's Guide to Social Programming) provide any case study or example of Social Web Applications in Corporate/Enterprise environments? Thanks!


Unfortunately, no. The book is specifically for developers and focuses on how to create these applications rather than a marketing-style book which would look at case studies. However, if you are looking for case studies I'd recommend the Facebook Connect Fan Page for lots of examples of Facebook.

Was there a specific platform you'd like to know more about?
Hey, Vyas.

Vyas Sanzgiri wrote:Is there a TOC for The Developer's Guide to Social Programming book? I could not find on Amazon. There is no preview available.


A provisional TOC is available here but I've also added an extra part with a walkthrough of integrating all services into a microblog.

Vyas Sanzgiri wrote:Does this book also talk about integrating services like facebook, google connect, twitter? Integrating in my terms is I want to send the same update across all streams in one shot.


Yes, that's right. It includes this as a walkthrough using a PHP web application framework called CodeIgniter. From here, you can send updates to each platform in one go granted you have adequate permissions from users.
Ha, with you! Well I have found it on pre-order in Australia and France so maybe one of the larger stockists will have it?
I'm not sure whether it's still where the cool kids go, but how about W3Schools?
A great resource that I found useful during writing is the Google Developers YouTube channel.

Check out this beginner's guide to Google Friend Connect.

Has anyone used this resource before?

Manish Hatwalne wrote:BTW, is there a chance that this book will get published in India? As in, Indian edition?


Good question, I can certainly find out for you. I'm pretty certain the only language it'll be in is American English, though. Many of the code examples should be transferable if that's any consolation!?
Well, that's right Sam. You can also easily revoke access to the sites easily and conveniently which is a bonus!
Hi, Praful.

In terms of "frameworks" (I use the term loosely there) I use twitter-async for Twitter API integration, the official Facebook client libraries and the official OpenSocial PHP library.

The final part of the book looks at creating a microblog from scratch which uses the CodeIgniter web application framework.

I don't touch on OpenID although the Google Friend Connect library does support it as an authentication mechanism. As Google Friend Connect makes a web site an OpenSocial container it has a lot of flexibility in terms of coding.

Does that help?