15.2. Getting started with LinkedIn

You’ll build a sample app throughout the rest of this chapter that illustrates the concepts and techniques we’ve covered. To learn how contacts, accounts, and synchronizers all work together, you’ll build a plug-in for LinkedIn.^[2]

^[2] Check out the LinkedIn blog for developers: http://blog.linkedin.com/category/linkedin-developer-network/.

Like most social networking sites, LinkedIn offers a developer API for building custom applications on top of its platform. To protect against abuse, LinkedIn requires the use of a developer API key with each request; this allows the company to shut off an app if it’s found to be misbehaving. You can get started developing with LinkedIn by following these steps: