A few months ago we developed our first Facebook application for a client. It was such an awful experience that I suspect it may be our last.
I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
31–40 of 77 posts
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#32My favorite game is finding easy-to-fix bugs in the bug tracker that have thousands of votes and have been rotting away with no action for months or years.
I really don't understand how FB can have so much interest in the future of their platform but let the fruits of their labor spoil like this.
Hopefully highly read posts like this will finally bring some attention to the matter. Where are you Zuck?!%
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#33This is Bret Taylor's Graph API - the concept simplified the API a lot, and companies like Freebase copied it for their own data. Too bad it is not working...
Explain, please?
The way Facebook's Graph API is structured can be applied to other datasets containing interconnected objects. It's like a REST service serving JSON, with a specific way to construct the URLs. I like it a lot. Here is a blog post explaining the Freebase implementation:
http://blog.freebase.com/2010/04/29/a-freebase-implementatio...
The Facebook docs:
http://developers.facebook.com/docs/api
But even the cleanest API is of no use if the API calls don't actually work...
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#34I'm in 100% agreement with this article. My company has sold more and more Facebook app / custom tab work lately, and it amounts to nothing but headaches.
Most clients simply refuse to understand that so many of the problems encountered are Facebook's fault as a result of bugs in their system or APIs broken from upgrades.
I wouldn't wish this kind of pain on any developer.
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#35I like how Twitter has versioned their API, and I wish Facebook would do something similar. With 500+ developers and deep knowledge of backend changes, they should be able to handle the minor discrepancies instead of off loading that burden to platform developers.
The Twitter API is excellent in comparison, I guess in a way the newer Facebook API drew a lot of inspiration from it. Problem is it was rushed out and judging by the article and comments left here not much has happened documentation wise in the last 3 months or more since I last touched it.
What actions can you do in twitter?
1. Post a tweet
That's everything.
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#36I agree with most of the comments here and on the blog post; having hit many of the same issues myself.
Fortunately, I get to do something about it.
I work for Facebook (joined ~3 weeks ago).
Part of my job is to help fix the developer site, documentation, etc. (along with a host of other issues related to developer relations).
We are working on updating the site and docs as fast as we can and this thread is helpful.
If you have any issues/feedback/whatever with our platform docs or API, email me at dmp@facebook.com and we'll get them addressed as soon as we can.
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#37I couldn't agree more with this article (though I sadly can't say 'no' to Facebook development). I recently did a tiny amount of Facebook integration into a site and it was horrific. All I wanted to do was add a `Like` button that would broadcast to the clicker's friends timeline. What could be simpler? Just copy and paste their code onto your page and you're done. Right? The second sentence on their documentation pa…
So when you like something, it doesn't actually appear in friends' newsfeeds? Elaborations please.
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#38I couldn't agree more with this article (though I sadly can't say 'no' to Facebook development). I recently did a tiny amount of Facebook integration into a site and it was horrific. All I wanted to do was add a `Like` button that would broadcast to the clicker's friends timeline. What could be simpler? Just copy and paste their code onto your page and you're done. Right? The second sentence on their documentation pa…
So when you like something, it doesn't actually appear in friends' newsfeeds? Elaborations please.
It does - I think the OP is referring to all the open graph data you need to add to your page to have this functionality work properly.
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#39The docs are horrible and often contradictory -- but with enough trial and error most things can be figured out.
The unannounced breaking changes are absolutely inexcusable and screw the people using your platform. It is not a sustainable development plan, you will eventually alienate 'the next Zynga' and all the smaller developers. Please, please, please put some effort into API stability.
Re: I’m done building Facebook apps for clients
#40Just want to say I'm really happy you wrote this post.
Unannounced changes to the platform - breaking core things we were working with - under deadline, with a client recently resulted in one of the worst disasters I've ever had to deal with on a project. It devolved into the collapse of a startup, not getting paid for almost half of the work we did, sleepless nights trying to hack impossible workarounds, a shady last-ditch buyout deal and multiple shouting matches with otherwise rational executives over un-realized expectations.
Facebook, get your freakin act together.