Difference Between HTML and FBML

HTML vs FBML

There have been a number of markup languages created for different purposes but none has been as popular or as widespread as HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), which is the main language of the internet. A relatively unknown markup language is FBML, or the Facebook Markup Language, which was developed for the specific use of Facebook. While HTML was developed to create a standardized language that can be used across different sites around the world, FBML was built for the purpose of creating Facebook apps.

To achieve its goal, FBML adds a lot of keywords that are specific to features in Facebook. You can display comments, invite friends on chat, or implement any other Facebook specific task. FBML simply makes coding within FB much simpler than when using HTML. FBML also removes HTML tags that are deemed to be of no use or to limit the security exposure of Facebook and their users.

Another key difference between HTML and FBML is the inability to use Javascript in FBML. Javascript provides an extra level of interaction with the users. The problem is, it can be problematic for Facebook because there are many ways where Javascript apps can be created to exploit weaknesses and even reveal some information about the user. Instead of Javascript, Facebook encouraged the use of its alternative FBJS. FBJS is Facebook’s own implementation of Javascript just like how FBML is to HTML.

As HTML and other related web technologies like CSS and Javascript developed, Facebook saw that there is no need to continue developing FBML and FBJS separately. Because of this, FBML has been deprecated and coders have been advised to continue development using HTML as there would no longer be any updates to FBML.

As FBML is already deprecated, there is really no reason to continue using it unless your application is already close to being finished. For any new project, it makes infinitely more sense to go with HTML, Javascript, and CSS in developing new applications for Facebook.

Summary:

1.HTML is a worldwide standard while FBML is specific to Facebook
2.FBML has many tags that are not recognized in HTML
3.There are tags in HTML that are not recognized by FBML
4.HTML pages can embed Javascript while FBML cannot
5.HTML is still in widespread use while FBML is already deprecated

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