How to start writing OpenSocial apps

• The OpenSocial Tutorial will walk you through developing your first OpenSocial gadget.
• If you want your app to run on Orkut, check out the OrkutInfo page for more details.
• This project's wiki contains code snippets that demonstrate the OpenSocial JavaScript API.
• There are developer's guides for OpenSocial and Orkut that give code samples and explanations to help you write applications.

Places to ask questions

• OpenSocial Developer Forum
• Orkut Developer Forum
• Ning Developer Forum
• Hi5 Developer Forum
• Plaxo Developer Forum
• IRC (irc://irc.freenode.net/opensocial)

Reference materials

• OpenSocial Wiki (code snippets, sample gadgets, and other resources)
• JavaScript API Reference for OpenSocial and Gadgets (documentation for all the JavaScript methods you can use)
• OpenSocial Specification (a definition of the OpenSocial API and some useful background info)
• Sample applications used in the articles and tutorials on code.google.com.
• Issue Tracker (report bugs, request features, and "star" the issues that are important to you!)

Ways to get news and updates

• OpenSocial blog
• Orkut Developer Blog
• Orkut announcements mailing list

Ways to contribute

• OpenSocial and Gadgets Specification Discussion group (for discussing/proposing API changes, suggesting new features, etc.)

If you're looking for friends to help test your app, check out this thread.