

Ask HN: How do I write a website that uses the Facebook API or whatever? - isomorph

I want to write a toy app that isn't actually a "Facebook app" (which I have never done, by the way). I want it to be a standalone website with its own URL but users log in with FB and it uses their data.<p>I need to learn the Facebook API or whatever, obviously<p>However, I am out of the web dev loop. I need someone to tell me what's what. What is jQuery? Am I... Node.js? Sinatra? Ruby on Rails? Which of this is important to me?<p>I can do like HTML and CSS.<p>WHAT DO I DO?
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bdclimber14
i don't mean to be pessimistic, but I think you have a bit to learn before you
get into Facebook login functionality. If your skillset is HTML and CSS, then
you should start learning how to make a basic web app without a database.
Personally, I'd check out Sinatra or PHP. Rails can be overwhelming to start
with. First, get a basic app to send some data to a browser, then do some
stuff, then look at connecting a database to it.

To phrase this as a metaphor, you're asking how to install lightning rods for
a tower you're about to build, but all you've ever done is paint a house.

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isomorph
I've made basic webapps with Scalatra and Scala by keeping all the complexity
in the Scala, which I know quite well

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bdclimber14
That's a good start, I may dive into database driven apps now. I know its a
swarm of technologies. Don't worry about JavaScript or jQuery right now since
those are front-end tools that add icing to the cake (unless it's node.js, but
let's keep it simple).

~~~
bdclimber14
Databases generally fall into 2 classes: NoSQL and SQL. I'd stick with SQL
based databases such as MySQL, Postgre, and SQLite. For the most part, they
can be interchangeable. MongoDB falls into the former and is an entirely
different way of thinking about databases.

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rhizome
_WHAT DO I DO?_

Read all of this: <http://developers.facebook.com/docs/guides/web/>

