Facebook embraces new Microsoft .NET SDK

By David M Williams
Wednesday, 25 November 2009 16:04

Home IT

Facebook is arguably the king of social networking right now and Microsoft-based software developers can now leverage the Facebook user base via the same technologies they are accustomed to.

Previously third-party applications produced for Facebook – Farmville, the multitude of quizzes and others – were predominantly developed using PHP or JavaScript.

Corporate developers meanwhile have sought means of constructing apps using the same familiar technologies they are accustomed to, specifically Visual Studio, ASP.NET, Silverlight and WPF.

Such applications need not be confined to those which typically run within Facebook – and let’s face it, a lot of the available Facebook apps focus on trivia and minutiae.

Consider the possibility, however, of a more conventional application – such as a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system – which could hook into Facebook? Perhaps the list of contacts would link to their Facebook profiles and automatically keep up to date as e-mail addresses and mobile numbers are changed.

The new Facebook Software Developer Kit – or SDK – from Microsoft caters for both these scenarios and makes a way for developers to interact with Facebook using conventional Microsoft technologies, whether producing Windows Forms applications or web passed apps in ASP.NET or Silverlight.

Actually, the Facebook SDK is not entirely a recent innovation with two previous incarnations under its belt. The difference is this time the newly released version 3.0 SDK is now officially supported by Facebook itself, joining the ranks of the PHP and JavaScript libraries.

In fact, in a Facebook Technology Tasting event earlier this year the standout demos were from Microsoft, producing visually appealing and feature rich applications within just 72 hours.