Facebook-based apps can now run on other sites

Computerworld - Facebook Inc. has moved to allow applications created on its site to run on other Web sites.

The social network's new JavaScript client library, released on Friday, ends the restriction that prevented developers from running Facebook applications on other Web sites, the company announced.

"Since the library does not require any server-side code on your server, you can now create a Facebook application that can be hosted on any Web site that serves static HTML," wrote Facebook developer Wei Zhu on a corporate blog.

Nick O'Neill, a blogger at All Facebook, noted that Facebook's move to let developers extend its platform to outside sites is a significant one for the company.

"The public is now aware of the possibilities to leverage Facebook outside of the main site, and that is big news," he wrote. "Rather than building your applications strictly within Facebook, you can now extend the full functionality of the platform to your own Web site and leverage Facebook as the tool for managing members and their relationships. Want to build your own social gaming platform that resides on your own Web site but leverages the power of users' Facebook relationships? Now you can!"

Sean Aune, a blogger at Mashable, noted that the move means that Facebook applications "could possibly start popping up on ordinary Web sites and blogs any day now."

Aune added that Facebook is looking to stem criticism for being like a "walled garden in that things do go in but nothing comes out. It would appear that they made the first step last night in 'coming out,' as it were. Web apps will be able to use cookies to track the users when they are using the app in other places on the Internet. So, in theory, you could play a game on any site, and your stats will still be tracked."

Read more about web 2.0 in Computerworld's Web 2.0 Knowledge Center.