Unless you have a specific reason that you want to use Facebook, I would recommend not using Facebook to build your app. If you use Facebook, you will be locked in to their platform, subject to their whims, and part of a system that does not respect the privacy of the users, or respect users in general.
Contributing to an open source project, or building your own open source application, would be a better way to improve and showcase your skills, in my opinion. It would also have a more positive impact on the world.
That said, Facebook’s Developer page’s Quickstart Guide says that Facebook’s Graph API is based on HTTP. So, I would recommend learning about how HTTP works, getting a better understanding of it, then downloading Facebook’s Graph API Explorer tool, and fooling around with that, as a place to begin.
There are probably many ways to learn about HTTP, but one way you might consider is the O’Reilly book on the subject: HTTP: The Definitive Guide by David Gourley and Brian Totty. I haven’t read it, but I have found other O’Reilly books to be helpful with more clarity in the writing than in many other technical books.
My reasoning for using fb is that my plan involves fb (i.e. I’m picking a random friend of the person using the app and then [a slightly more involved version of gratitude journaling]). And that I figured that I wanted the app to occur within something the person was already using, to avoid the inconvenience of downloading a standalone app or visiting a website.
Unless you have a specific reason that you want to use Facebook, I would recommend not using Facebook to build your app. If you use Facebook, you will be locked in to their platform, subject to their whims, and part of a system that does not respect the privacy of the users, or respect users in general.
Contributing to an open source project, or building your own open source application, would be a better way to improve and showcase your skills, in my opinion. It would also have a more positive impact on the world.
That said, Facebook’s Developer page’s Quickstart Guide says that Facebook’s Graph API is based on HTTP. So, I would recommend learning about how HTTP works, getting a better understanding of it, then downloading Facebook’s Graph API Explorer tool, and fooling around with that, as a place to begin.
There are probably many ways to learn about HTTP, but one way you might consider is the O’Reilly book on the subject: HTTP: The Definitive Guide by David Gourley and Brian Totty. I haven’t read it, but I have found other O’Reilly books to be helpful with more clarity in the writing than in many other technical books.
My reasoning for using fb is that my plan involves fb (i.e. I’m picking a random friend of the person using the app and then [a slightly more involved version of gratitude journaling]). And that I figured that I wanted the app to occur within something the person was already using, to avoid the inconvenience of downloading a standalone app or visiting a website.