If you have spent much time developing Web apps over the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard the term social network so many times that you hear it ringing in your ears while you sleep. (Talk about nightmares.) Until Facebook released its platform, one could understand the nightmares, because social networking seemed far more important to teenage girls on MySpace than to serious Web developers. However, when the Facebook Platform was announced by Facebook, social networking suddenly became a buzzword worth dreaming about for the Web development community. A whole new breed of Web application was born — a social network–enabled application. If you are interested in developing a Web application that taps into the social networking heart of Facebook, you’ve found the right book.