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94

answers:

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For instance, when Mark Zuckerberg says in an interview that he wrote Facebook in 2 weeks, what exactly (or at least approximately) did he write? I imagine "user" objects in a big database or tree with the ability to negotiate links to other user objects, but I'm wondering how the overarching manager of the tree works. When a user log in, does the "main" program look up that user's object and fork off a process with it to interact with other user object while the user is logged in? Thanks.

+2  A: 

You're kindof dancing around a topic that I don't feel you understand. To understand how he wrote Facebook, you need to know:

  • How to write a web page (HTML, CSS, & JavaScript)
  • A server-side language (PHP, in the case of Facebook)
  • How to use an RDBMS system (MySQL is a popular one)

Learn those three topics, and it will come into focus.

Stargazer712
+1  A: 

You have to specify the scope of the application, "social app" is too generic a definition to specify an architecture in detail. User relations is just a part of such a system: messaging, groups, ratings, etc. you have to define the participation aspect, the social graph and presence. You usually build an app focusing on a strategy rather than the implementation details.

carlfilips