This document introduces the Facebook Python API. It discusses the Facebook Developer website, Graph API, and Python SDK. The Graph API allows accessing Facebook data through HTTP requests and responses in JSON format. An access token is required to authenticate requests. The Python SDK facilitates working with the Graph API and retrieving Facebook data and user profiles programmatically. Examples demonstrate using the SDK to fetch object and connection data from the graph.

1. Introduction to Facebook Python API
Social Network and Applications, 2011
LittleQ, The Department of Computer Science, NCCU
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Introduction to
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2. Objectives
• Learn the concepts of Facebook API
• Learn how to play with Facebook Graph
API
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3. Core Topics
• Facebook Developers website
• Graph API
• Facebook Python SDK
• Resources
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4. Facebook Developers
• Provide you online documentations
• Forum for discussion
• Management of your applications
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5. Where is it?
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6. Social Plugins
• Like Button, Send Button, Login Button
• Comments
• Your Friends
• Activity Feed, Live Stream
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7. Is That What You Want?
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8. Graph API
Response Data Aggregate Information
Access Token Request Data
Application Graph API Facebook Database
• Facebook’s core
• Social graph
• Connections
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9. Graph Model
• Composed of objects and connections
• Identify entities and relationships by id
• Data will be stored with smallest spaces
and keep being updated
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10. Object Model
information from graph API
without access token
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11. Graph Model
information from graph API
with access token
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12. Connection Model
• All of the object in the Facebook social graph are connected
to each other via connections
• Objects are just like entities while connections are like
relationship
• For example, users, pages and groups are objects and likes,
friends and feeds are connections
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13. Connection Model
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14. Access to Graph
• HTTP(S) Graph API
• SDKs
‣ Javascript SDK
‣ iOS SDK
‣ Android SDK
‣ PHP SDK
‣ Python SDK
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15. HTTP(S) Graph API
• RESTful HTTP request & response
• Response data-type: JSON
• Access URL: graph.facebook.com
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16. HTTP(S) Graph API
http://graph.facebook.com/<id-­‐or-­‐username>
• Request information of an object with id or username
• id-or-username can be “me” with the access token
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17. HTTP(S) Graph API
http://graph.facebook.com/littleq0903
Result:
{
"id":
"1681390745",
"name":
"Colin
Su",
"first_name":
"Colin",
"last_name":
"Su",
"link":
"https://www.facebook.com/littleq0903",
"username":
"littleq0903",
"gender":
"male",
"locale":
"en_US"
}
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18. Access Token
• A long string stands for the authentication of users
• Temporary
• The information behind the access token
‣ user id
‣ app id
‣ expired time
‣ secret
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19. Get Access Token
• GetMyAccess
http://getmyaccess.heroku.com
• It requires a permission called
“offline_access”, so this token can be valid
for a long time
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20. HTTP(S) Graph API
• Access token should be transferred as a
HTTP GET variable
http://graph.facebook.com/littleq0903?access_token=...
• More information:
developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/
api/
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21. Python SDK
• Let you access all features of the Graph API
• That’s all, let’s play!
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22. Python SDK
• https://github.com/facebook/python-sdk
• Designed to support Graph API and FB
Javascript SDK (You will learn in the future)
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23. Graph
• Depends your access token
• Everyone will have their own graph, could
be unique
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24. Graph API Class
• Fetch the graph by implement it
import
facebook
graph
=
facebook.GraphAPI()
user
=
graph.get_object(“littleq0903”)
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25. Authentication
my_profile
=
graph.get_object(“me”)
• Graph can be implemented with an access
token
graph
=
GraphAPI(ACCESS_TOKEN)
• And the perspective of the graph will be
different
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26. Graph Methods
• get_object, get_objects
• get_connections
• put_object
• put_wall_post, put_comment, put_like
• delete_object
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27. Demo
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28. Homework
• Fetch a kind of data on the FB Graph
• Do some statistics on it
• Don’t Copy from others
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29. Q&A Time
Thanks for your listening
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