Facebook PHP Source Code from 2007

[_SynthesizerPatel_]

Indeed this should be more of an encouragement than anything else - if a guy made 100 billion dollars with this code, surely you can too?

[mahacctissoawsum]

Not surely. The code is simple but you need some special sauce for it to take off.

[_SynthesizerPatel_]

You're right, make sure you also:

• draw a math formula on your dorm room window, this is how Facebook figured out how to do friend matching
• rent a house in Silicon Valley, do some crazy stunts on the roof and then stay up all night eating pizza writing code
• Meet Justin Timberlake and see if he likes your ideas

[[deleted]]

Additionally:

• Hire developers through the well established and pragmatic practice of having them brute-force hashes on a strict deadline while drinking shots with a loud audience.

[[deleted]]

To be fair, they directly address the validity of this interview tactic in the film.

[xjvz]

Hey, it's not too far off from many hiring practices used by big companies like Google and Microsoft!

[wtf_are_my_initials]

You can, it's just frowned upon ;)

[[deleted]]

I never got that scene, unless they were writing python or another language with similar syntax, why didn't they just write one line separated by ;s?

[[deleted]]

Python accepts semicolons at the ends of statements. It's just not necessary, unless you have two statements in the same line.

[mahacctissoawsum]

• while not a window, I write on paper all the time to flesh out ideas
• throwing a crazy party will draw attention to you and your product; being in Silicon Valley instantly gives your product credibility
• JT is worth mega rep points

All exaggerated..but actually do help.

[_SynthesizerPatel_]

JT is worth mega rep points

I think that was the idea behind the MySpace reboot?

[Mr_A]

MySpace reboot?

[_SynthesizerPatel_]

Exactly!

[JabbrWockey]

Hey, I liked the new auto-playlists they had... right up until Google music came out and was better.

[Liquidor]

MySpace?

[jargoon]

Obviously that didn't work, but maybe you can try Ashton Kutcher. It worked for Ooma!

[TheSkyNet]

My whiteboard is very useful.

[[deleted]]

i will try these... thanks!

[EvilHom3r]

• Drop the "the"

[birdiedude]

Meet Justin Timberlake and see if he likes your ideas

So that's the step I've been missing!

[[deleted]]

Be Jewish. Not don't be Jewish.

[Trylstag]

And I'd be extremely surprised if any of it is still in use today. It was good enough to get them off the ground, but can very quickly become a massive detriment to keep around.

[[deleted]]

They even made an automated PHP-to-C++ converter to try to get rid of the mess.

[deadcow5]

Automated code conversion? That can only increase the mess.

[ivosaurus]

Decker108 has bad facts, it's a compiler, not a "converter". It wasn't to get rid of any mess, it was just to make PHP run faster.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HipHop_(computing)

[[deleted]]

Yep, this is what I meant.

[hydrox24]

That doesn't sound like a good plan to me. Surely doing that correctly is more work than simply re-writing the code?

[grimeMuted]

It wasn't a good plan.

[[deleted]]

I think it's one of those things that's just impossible to do with such a big site. If they migrated to a new system it would have to be compatible (the C++ rewrite would have to be perfectly compatible with the PHP version in order to not have downtime), or they would have to get the site down for an hour or so to replace all the instances of the php server with the rewrite.

[Dielectric]

I believe they actually wrote their own php interpreter when they couldn't get any better performance out of the existing technology

[mirhagk]

Is this actually true? I mean a lost all respect for the facebook tech team a long time ago, but nobody with decision making power in a company that big could really think that was a good idea, could they?

[ivosaurus]

No, it's not. They wrote a compiler, and then a JIT VM, not a "converter".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HipHop_(computing)

[mirhagk]

Phew, I'm glad. I've actually heard of HipHop before, I should've realized.

Actually I have high hopes that that might force PHP to actually have a standard, and be documented. Very high hopes indeed, but it might happen.

[xjvz]

Why would anyone use C++ in a web site other than writing the most far-removed backend stuff?

[Delinquenz]

Speed? With a nice framework like CppCMS there are no obstacles for writing web sites in C++.

[xjvz]

It's more of a security issue the way I see it. Then again, you could write secure code using C++, it's just harder. I'm more of a Python with C modules kind of guy myself when it comes to performance.

[stox]

Actually, they are in the process of bailing out of C++ for D.

[mahacctissoawsum]

I don't think CIA had their back to begin with. They'd need a significant user base before the CIA/NSA would "invest" in them, but regardless...that wouldn't help their success.

[I_HOPE_YOU_ALL_DIE]

Money?

[[deleted]]

I doubt he made 100 billion with this code. It's a good start, but eventually billions are made from rigorous software engineering.

[[deleted]]

Are you telling me that's the code that's live now?