IFrames getting advantage over FBML for Facebook apps | Hacker News Reader

IFrames getting advantage over FBML for Facebook apps

ccheever.com

33 pointsntoshev10 comments

Another advantage to IFrames is that it makes porting your app to OpenSocial easier. The two platforms seem to be converging recently: Facebook enhancing their Javascript APIs, and OpenSocial building their REST APIs and working on an equivalent for FBML.

Got a link about OpenSocial getting closer to the Facebook model? OpenSocial have always had REST APIs, did they start to call your servers like Facebook does?

Outstanding writeup. Thank's a lot; this actually cleared quite a few things up for me.

Funny how Facebook drifts toward the architecture OpenSocial used for integrating 3rd party apps from the start: javascript-heavy client making calls to the platform API and (optionally) to the application's own servers.

Interesting article. I never really looked at facebook apps but it seems much simpler then I thought (not sure why I assumed it would be complex).

The URL thing is kind of a deal breaker if you're working on an application rather than a widget.

You've got to be joking. There are so many things that don't work well or at all in iframes:

- extended permissions

- resizing so you don't have scrollbars

- inconsistent behavior in fb-sig params

- cookie handling issues that are common to all iframes

FWIW your first two issues are addressed on the post. <fb:serverfbml> can be used for extended permissions and some other js provided by FB for automagic iframe resizing.

I agree with your point though, I think not requiring FBML apps to reload all the FB chrome would be a better solution. He mentions that this is in the plans at the end.

I stand by my statement.

<fb:serverfbml> came out 30 days ago. That's about six months after you could do extended permissions stuff in fbml. In my book, that's a second class citizen.

The resizing code for iFrames is broken. I've talked to Facebook's engineers about it. They know it. The reality is that it is nasty, tricky, hacky code that is hard to get right and harder to keep running. It runs directly into the weakest part of cross-browser javascript wizardry: the DOM and dynamically resizing divs. Their advice was to avoid it.

Look: I built an iframe app. It was the right thing to do for my business. But it is in Facebook's interest for fbml to always be a little more functional and at least a little better.

The author of the blog post is a lead engineer working on the Facebook platform. Maybe their priorities are changing.

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