Getting a friend count from facebook (possibly using api)

Question

Im used to working with twitter, where friend/follower totals are available in a simple xml request.

My goal is a simple "enter your username/user id, and display your friends count".

Is there something like this for facebook? From what i gather, ill have to make an application, and have anyone who wants to grab their friends total actually install that app from within their own facebook profile.

Anyone have any experience with this?

Answer 1

Facebook provides an API for developers so you can grab information from Facebook. Check it out at the provided link.

Edit: From your tags, it looks like you are already familiar with the Facebook API. You can use the API with external applications or webpages - it doesn't necessarily need to be used within a Facebook app, if that is what you are asking.

Answer 2

You do need to set up an application, but it'll work as a Connect app - meaning that users won't have to access it through their Facebook profile at all. In broad terms you'll need to:

1. Set up an application
2. Implement Facebook Connect on your site
3. Get users of your site to log in with Connect. (You can't ask for their username/password.)
4. Make a Friends.get call to the API, probably with the JavaScript client library (although there are server-side ways you can do it)