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> This goes to show that technology stack is not as important as devs Facebook PHP isn't the same as the standard PHP engine though - they've spent 20 years op
by helsinkiandrew 3y ago
> This goes to show that technology stack is not as important as devs
Facebook PHP isn't the same as the standard PHP engine though - they've spent 20 years optimizing their own compiler and PHP engine/infrastructure:
> Overall, our experiments demonstrate that HipHop is about 5.5x faster than standard, interpreted PHP engines. As a result, HipHop has reduced the number of servers needed to run Facebook and other web sites by a factor between 4 and 6, thus drastically cutting operating costs.
https://research.facebook.com/publications/the-hiphop-compiler-for-php/ https://research.facebook.com/publications/the-hiphop-compil...
- duskwuff 3y agoNB: that's from 12 years ago. HipHop didn't last long; a JITted PHP runtime (HHVM) replaced it at Facebook a few years later. Vanilla PHP also got a lot faster around versions 7 and 8.
- vincent_s 3y agoThe comparison was made in 2012 with PHP 5. PHP 8 is out now and likely includes most of Facebook's improvements. PHP 8 should be fast enough for any web app or backend.
- Ralfp 3y agoA lot of Facebook those days is Node.js, Rust or Python. Its no longer PHP heavy like it used to be.
- phyrex 3y agoThere is absolutely no truth to that
- Ralfp 3y agoFB is not using Python or Node? What’s the build pipeline for their frontend in then? Is GraphQL in PHP? Are AI services in PHP too?
- phyrex 3y agoPython is used all over the place but there is no node that I’ve ever seen. GraphQL is indeed in php, but the AI services are in python (I think)
- Ralfp 3y agoWhat's the build pipeline for the React.js client in if its not in the Node.js?
- phyrex 3y agoI had a quick look and.. I have no idea. Frontend development at meta works differently than you probably imagine: things aren’t built locally but on dev servers or on-demand instances that all run services that take care of any build jobs in the background. I don’t know if there’s any nodejs involved at any point there or later in CI, but I suppose it’s possible. I still think it’s unlikely because my search turned up barely any mentions of nodejs, so I still think that my main point holds true: there’s very little node in use at meta, and nearly all the facebook frontend services are php (or python for Instagram/threads)
- Ralfp 3y agoIs Haste still in use? Is it in PHP?
- phyrex 3y agoLooks like it, and yes, all PHP. Why did you think Meta was all nodejs and no more PHP anyways?
- Ralfp 3y agoI've didn't think "no more PHP". I am just seeing how much non-PHP Meta open sources and talk with Meta guys at events who are building stuff for JS, talking about new client and varied tech stack and then you've told me "actually its still mostly PHP".