I'm wondering what types of script Facebook or other social networks are using these days. I am looking to create a site/app that is a form of social networking. Thanks.
Yes facebook use PHP, you can check more about their platform from the following link: http://developers.facebook.com/opensource/ But don't select PHP JUST because Facebook is using it. No matter what language you choose the thing that matters is you need it very well, otherwise you won't be able to make a good application.
Is there a script or programming language that you would suggest that would work better for a social networking site/app?
There are many scripts for social networking sites, but they're all pretty bad. If you want something on the caliber of Facebook you have to do what the people at Facebook did - write the site from scratch. (Of course, that means a couple of years of learning programming, computers, how the client-server model works, etc. There's a reason good programmers won't work for minimum wage, and it's not greed.)
The frontend is written in PHP. Much of it is written using XHP, and the runtime is HipHop for PHP. Like most websites there's a lot of JavaScript running in the users' browsers.
I'm not 100% certain what this question is soliciting for, however i'll interpret it as, "What third-party software system was used for the initial version of Facebook?" Three major items of ASCII text file software system were a part of the initial Facebook design. MySQL. this can be still used for plenty of Facebook's information storage, although there area unit currently alternative systems in use too (e.g., HBase is employed for storing messages). PHP. abundant of Facebook's code base continues to be written within the PHP language however we tend to currently have our own implementation of the PHP setting (HipHop for PHP) that turns PHP into a compiled language with respectable performance. Apache. In today's Facebook design, this has been replaced by the inherent net server in HipHop, however was still in use till last year.
There are few scripts which you could use to make the site, but you will need to create your own solution when your site gets busy because these scripts won't be able to handle a lot of traffic: 1) Buddypress (free) 2) elgg (free) 3) phpfox (paid) Out of these three, I know that buddypress could support few million users (http://wprealm.com/blog/my-take-on-buddypress/) so I would recommend you to use it for starting the project.
I hope you don't mind my asking, are you working for Facebook as you used "we tend to currently have our own implementation of the PHP setting"???
I'm not sure I would want to go the 3rd party route. It sounds like segregating the different functions with the appropriate programming for design, data storage, net server services, and then client side scripting would be the best way to approach this. Any ideas on the best model for each of these functions?
Check out AJAX. I believe originated after Facebook was up and running. The server language is just a matter of choice and what the available talent prefer. There is (can be/should be) a lot of design work before you code anything. Keep in mind that Facebook evolved with lots of testing and thousands (and thousands) of manhours. What's your budget and time frame?
I have no set time frame or budget right now. I have this revolutionary concept that I want to employ but not sure about where to begin.
Facebook started 100% PHP-based and still mostly is to this day. They also offer SDKs for PHP for building apps in their platform.
Calling it AJAX did, but the techniques were there for anyone to use long before that. Facebook didn't exist as a concept before 2003 (Facemash). Microsoft introduced XMLHTTP in 1998. (MS was using AJAX - dynamically updating parts of a page - but not calling it that, in 1999.) There are more considerations than that, the main one being "what does the site have to accomplish?" You can hire a team to code in any language, so you pick the language based on the site's needs, not the team's wishes. That's basic programming technique - and basic technique for any job. You figure out WHAT you're going to do before you decide HOW to do it. Computer programs are written in English and pictures. Then someone codes that design into a program. Writing code before the program is written is an amateur "technique". You CAN do it that way and still come up with the next Facebook, just like you can ride a bike from coast to coast. But neither one is the best way to accomplish the task.
I totally agree with Rukbat. However, in some cases it is valid to write code to test concepts and learn what you are doing. You just have to be willing and able to scrap it and start over again. There can be timing and scalability considerations. There might be new hardware involved that requires drivers. Then you throw that code away and start the real project. Management usually bitches saying we have all that money invested in the (throw away) code so we have to use it. Wrong! Sometimes you just reach a dead end and need to scrap things and start over or abandon the whole project and move on. Back in the 80's TRW walked away from a project that, up to that point, they had spent over 7 million dollars (as I recall) If we go way back there's "The Mythical Man Month". One woman can make a baby in nine months, but nine women cannot make a baby in a month sorta logic. Each project is/can be different with it's own development problems. There are general rules that were learned and evolved over the years, usually after a lot of money was spent/wasted. For example, on a recent project I worked on involving a C#/.NET Windows program to generate PDF Documents (not using Adobe) from a data base, I wrote several small programs just to determine the best way to do it. They didn't do much except make some pdf pages. Then I redid everything with more complexity doing some trivial layout. After about five iterations, I had the deliverable product and got paid (fixed bid) The final version went fast since. By then, I "knew" exactly what I was doing and had all the working bits and pieces in place. The client was happy and gave me more work. Sorry, got carried away. Back to the thread - if I wanted to create a Facebook like app today I would: 1. Not tell anyone what I was trying to do - even with a NDA (see the Facebook movie) 2. Research the current and (projected) future of social networking or whatever I was trying to do. 3. Find some venture capital - that's why the research. 4. Split the development up into chunks that each would function/do something and isolate the development of each chunk. Each chunk being some sorta binary deliverable. 5. Do a weekly or even daily integration of those chunks to make sure everything. Microsoft eating their own dog food sorta thing. 6. ... Well you get the idea. There's a lot more detail to the process, that's just what comes to mind off the top of my head. Good luck, everyone starts somewhere.
But you still decide what you're going to do before you start writing code. I've seen too many people here wanting to write code when they have no idea what they want the code to do yet. Whether you're writing the whole program first, or writing "only allow digits", don't write code until you know what it's supposed to be doing. That was my point.
Got it. Sorta like I'm gonna go on vacation. Where ya going? Don't know! I think I will just start driving until I get somewhere. North is a nice direction or maybe East. Where do you think I should go? I've heard that South is really nice. Well OK then, South it is. What sorta shoes should I wear?
PHP is most popular language as it's used for many social networking site frameworks. We integrated our webcam applications in most popular ones: - WordPress + BuddyPress - Joomla + JomSocial (paid) - Oxwall - Elgg - Dolphin