Which Facebook .NET Library is the best to use?

Question

There is a list of projects here, mainly the Facebook Developer Toolkit and Facebook.NET. However, I've seen a lot of negative feedback about the toolkit and it seems like Facebook.NET hasn't been upgraded to the latest facebook API.

Are either of these worth using? Any other good libraries out there?

Specifically I'm looking to use the library in a ASP.NET MVC application.

Thanks!

Answer 1

I also started experimenting with Facebook Developer Toolkit (FDT) but dropped it for Facebook.NET. There is a fork of the latter at http://www.codeplex.com/fbnet which slowly covers recent changes in Facebook API. Have a look at this post since it has some interesting integration points for Facebook.NET and MVC http://www.coderjournal.com/2008/06/mvc-facebook-wonderful-development-platform/

FDT is made for WebForms mainly and it will take you some time to integrate it properly with MVC. And Matt is right: the documentation of FDT RC2 (last time I checked) was out of date and misleading. If you plan using this anyway check this out also http://corcoranpstech.blogspot.com/2008/06/facebook-mvc.html

You may also find a promising - still in alpha though - library (Facebook API for .NET) here: http://facebook.codeplex.com/

latest addition: the only library one should check right now is http://facebooksdk.codeplex.com/

Answer 2

You might want to try a new API that I developed for the social graph here.

It's easy to use and while it will cost you $50 to unlock it will easily save you hours of time fiddling with the other libraries out there. It will also be continuously updates as I use my own library on my core website. That means that you don't have to worry about it breaking, in fact it's designed in such a way that if FB changes their objects it will still work (not break).

Please try it out and let me know how it works out for you.

Answer 3

I would suggest using facebook's API directly. When I investigated SDKs several months ago, I found them all to be outdated and quite a minefield to navigate. facebook's SDK follows REST standards, so it should be fairly easy to pick up. Also, all of the pains that come with using facebook's API (e.g. bugs, api changing all the time) are still going to be there when using an SDK, but if you write your own code, it will be easier for you to deal with them. Also, when facebook makes a change (which they do all the time, including another one that they're proposing today), you won't have to wait for the SDK to be updated.

Answer 4

As I posted on #3908765, I've found Facebook# to be pretty good, though I had to workaround a few things. Not perfect, but certainly a good starting point.

Answer 5

The one built by the Facebook engineers ? http://developers.facebook.com/blog/post/395

Answer 6

Just saw that this was released today: The Facebook SDK from Microsoft.

This toolkit is provided as a Facebook Client Library similar to Facebook's PHP Client Library or Facebook's JavaScript library. The goal is to enable .NET developers to quickly and easily leverage the various features of the Facebook Platform. This toolkit has evolved over time with input from the community and from Microsoft. The latest release (v3.0) includes new architectural improvements and provides an asynchronous interface for using the toolkit from Silverlight and from WPF.

Looks like the best option out there now for .NET deleveopers.

Answer 7

Facebook Developer Toolkit has a 3.0 release coming out soon (supposedly end of October). See this blog post

I've been working with the latest FDT 3.0 source for a Facebook app using ASP.NET MVC and it has been very easy to work with. The sample code, documentation, and past questions/answers from the Codeplex forums have covered all of the issues I've encountered in coming up to speed on this library.

The other libraries for .NET are simply not being maintained and don't have the critical mass of usage or community engagement to help make you successful as a developer. I spent a lot of time trying to get my app working with the ".NET Facebook API Client" but there are very few signs of life in that community, which made me abandon it.

I did not try Facebook.NET as it has not had any source checked in since January 2008, which didn't bode well for a target that moves as quickly as the Facebook API.

Answer 8

The following page provide a great (and simple) port using mvc. http://onishimura.com/2009/04/13/facebook-and-aspnet-mvc

In FB Developer page, it provide a Addon link to MVC, which I found that is only for toolkit 1.X but not 2.0. And the need to extend the ViewPage to other master page, makes the controller of MVC not accessible to the FB API (which I can see no point that the View should have direct control on it). Above mentioned link provide such a port to create and put the api object in TempData dictionary which is accessible to controller.

Answer 9

Do not use the Developer toolkit knowing the consulting firm who creates and supports this. I do not trust anything created by Clarity Consulting which is who created that Toolkit (errors, methods that are way too long, overcoded and weird & inefficient coding practices). Keep in mind Clarity is big on using DataSets in many of their home grown solutions (Good developers and architects DO NOT USE DATASETS no matter how big or small an application is...they're junk.). Granted there are no DataSets in that framework (Thank God) but that's the mentality behind that firm.

In fact, roll your own wrapper for Facebook if you want total control, even if it's more work. Otherwise, I'd go with the Facebook.NET API which to me seems very well coded and was done by an MS guru.

Answer 10

The Facebook Developer Toolkit used to be pretty bad. Now version 2.0 is out and looks great. Here's a writeup.

How to Use the Facebook Developer Toolkit 2.0 - Devtacular

Answer 11

Another option that I just came across is the Silverlight Facebook Client Side API v0.001. Still in the demo/poc phase but looks pretty promising.

Answer 12

I've used FDT for a couple of small apps. There's lots of general borkyness, but as far as I can determine, most of it stems from the fact that the Facebook APIs are a highspeed moving target and are poorly documented (this was especially true around the introduction of the new profile design). I don't think one should fault the FDT developers for lack of compatitability when this is probably mostly due to facebook retirering or changing core features.

(I'm not affiliated with FDT although I have suggested a few patches).

Answer 13

FYI, the 2.0 version of the FDT was just recently officially released, and a lot of work has been done to fix bugs and be more compatible with the current API (full disclosure - I'm one of the maintainers of the project).

The project had been dead for a little while, but I'm going to try and keep it more up-to-date from here on out, so you might just give it a try. Also, we're going to try and get better at evaluating and accepting patches from the community, so if you find something that's not working, feel free to submit a patch.

Answer 14

I think we're pretty much out in the cold.

The CodePlex toolkit is a complete nightmare, according to pretty much everybody who's tried to use it. The current state is that they've released a 2.0 version that isn't backward compatible to the old stuff and doesn't support the latest Facebook API changes. The old versions (1.7 and lower) are no longer supported and now broken with the latest API. The new version is buggy and incomplete, has been effectively abandoned by the developer, and is also incompatible with the latest API. And every version of it that I'm aware of is 3.5 only, which means you can't yet put it into production.

In short, It's pretty much the worst case scenario. Until somebody steps up and puts out a working library, you're better off rolling your own thing. I'm personally basing mine off of the facebook-c-sharp library, which is lightweight and basically works. It's winforms-only, so you'll need to tear pretty much everything out and just use the REST wrappers, but it will save a bunch of work getting started.

Answer 15

Facebook Developer Toolkit has been fine for everything I've needed it for. However, it's worth mentioning that at least as of September, the documentation, samples and tutorials for the Facebook Developer Toolkit are so out of date with its current release (Release Candidate 2) that it might be a minefield for a new developer.