Developing a facebook chat app?

[Mark]

I am confused where to start.

I want to develop a facebook chat app for blackberry devices. Is it possible to do this using java or php? or does facebook have their own development kit for mobile apps?

Could you please guide me where to start ? (e.g. what do I need to make it connect to facebook servers, etc.)

Thanks a lot.

[Devine Caesar]

You'll need to visit the Facebook Developers site [1] and check that what you want to do is possible first. Although you can chat on facebook chat through windows live messenger and you can through ebuddy as well so I would imagine it is possible.

Their developer site also notes Facebook Chat supports Jabber/XMPP, the open standard for instant messaging. So you may want to start with [2] JXA - the Java XMPP API for J2ME.

I would note before you put the effort in that unless you have some novel idea or something new to bring to the IM Client scene, commercial success isn't likely as there are several clients out there already which can be used for the same purpose - not meaning to discourage you just offering constructive criticism

[Manuel Lemos]

There are many PHP chat components that you can use in your site. Here follows a list of a few that I found, including one that can send messages to Facebook chat users.

Full disclosure: I moderate this site.

[Darren from SG4]

Blackberry devices use Java. It is also worth noting that there is already a Facebook Chat App for Blackberry.

If you are not that experienced it may help to look at an existing Jabber implementation in Java and go from there.

One such example is http://jeti.sourceforge.net/ - it is an open source project which means you will be able to look at the code and reuse it if you abide by the license terms. This will save you redeveloping something you do not need to, so you can concentrate on the part of the project that interests you.