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Microsoft is ignoring .net developers

5 points by MichaelApproved ↗ HN
I'm a .net developer trying to code with Facebooks Connect API. Microsoft invested $240 million in facebook but hardly a dime in .net developers. Now even FLASH has a better supported library than .net developers.

Recently I posted my frustration with MS with other .net developers http://facebooktoolkit.codeplex.com/Thread/View.aspx?ThreadId=52107

I doubt it'll have any result, it looks like the project has been abandoned...

Am I crazy to think MS should officially support Facebook (esp since they invested in the company) and also come out with a real alternative to wordpress for .net developers? If I were a developer just starting out I'd have little reason to use .net instead of php.

9 comments

[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 32.4 ms ] thread
mahmud
> Am I crazy to think MS should officially support Facebook

You don't need a corporate behemoth to give you an API for a web service. You can bitch about MS withholding binary API for its system calls, but the web is wide open baby! XML protocols are the easiest to implement, no wonder there are clients for all the major languages, and the not-so-major ones:

http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Client_Librari...

MS is a platform vendor, it can't afford to hitch its wagon to a wild horse like a web application; these things come and go, but the platform stays (even if it changes face.)

If you want tight integration of "facebook" with Visual Studio, you will probably have to write your own plugin. Or use an open development environment, even if you target a proprietary OS.

Cheers!

MichaelApproved
These libraries may be open source but they're still written/managed by major companies. PHP library is managed by Facebook. The Flash library is managed by Adobe. The .net library? Abandoned at codeplex...

Part of being a platform vendor is releasing libraries. Adobe isn't waiting for a public team to write their product, they just did it themselves because it adds value to the platform.

Writing and maintaining a library for facebook doesn't require that many resources. Now I know you're response is going to be "Then why don't you do it." I wont do it because I can't write every little bit of code.

mattmcknight
I don't think MS was investing in Facebook as a development platform- they were just trying to buy into some page views. MS definitely thinks Sharepoint is the alternative to wordpress- really!

The more striking thing about your comment to me is that .net developers may tend to wait for Microsoft to build a library for them while members of other communities self organize to build their own. It's very nice for the developers when MS does something, because it's generally good enough, but it seems like it's harder to get open source projects started because of the chance MS is working on it secretly.

MichaelApproved
But in this case Microsoft actually paid a third party to develop this POS and they both decided to make it open source. People, like me, want to contribute but the project has been abandoned so our changes/upgrades wont get integrated.
blasdel
Grow a pair and fork it. You could even /GASP/ write your own!

You're not Jeff Atwood, you haven't built up a persona of being a proud idiot that can't code his way out of a paper bag without getting a blessed library from on high. You can do it yourself. You are a big boy with real tools. Do it.

It is just not difficult to poke a webserver over HTTP, especially when you have a documented and widely used interface provided to you on a silver platter.

Element
No need to refer to someone more successful than you as an "idiot".
jibiki
What does that even mean?
MichaelApproved
Yes, writing Facebook api is easy but keeping up with it is hard. Facebook constantly makes little changes to the site and monitoring that while doing everything else is hard. I use MS tools to try and save time. That's why I pay for their software and that's how they market their software.

If MS didn't agree then why did they make the API in the first place? A main part of my issue is that MS got the project started (never mind how half assed), people depended on the library and then it was just abandoned.

It's not like it wasn't being used either. It's a popular toolkit. Like you said, it's not difficult to poke a server so why do they abandon a project people depend on?

MichaelApproved
MS may think sharepoint is an alternative but that is definitely not the case. Many developers work independently and need to offer clients simple solutions when building a website. Sharepoint is not simple or cheap. It's a beast for enterprise systems.

As a programmer dealing with a client, how can I suggest the client use asp.net over php? MS needs to address that question. Enterprise systems aren't the only animals out there.