The source code of Facebook.com just leaked. This gave developers a way of seeing how Facebook is able to scale some of its technology. This is not the first case I’ve heard where a technology company’s source code leaked though.
Microsoft has had similar problems. On February 12, 2004, CNET posted an article mentioning that Microsoft is investigating Windows 2000 source code leakages in chat rooms and underground websites.
While the source code of Facebook was not completely revealed, there was enough to do some damage. The damage is that the algorithms that make the site move through functions swiftly were revealed. This could potentially allow other developers to replicate similar strategies for their own websites.
“For instance, the structure doesn’t follow any object oriented development practices, and it seems that the application is one large PHP file with a large number of custom functions living in the same namespace (they also seem to be using the Smarty templating engine),” wrote Nik Cubrilovic of TechCrunch.
How much damage is caused here financially, I cannot say. Nor can I confirm whether this code is real or if it is a dud. If it is real, then the consequences are irreversible. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Facebook revamps their source code at some point.
Update: Facebook staff commented on TechCrunch about the leak. Here is what they wrote:
Brandee Barker
August 11th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Hi Nic-I wanted to clarify a few things in your story. Some of Facebook’s source code was exposed to a small number of users due to a bug on a single server that was misconfigured and then fixed immediately. It was not a security breach and did not compromise user data in any way. The reprinting of this code violates several laws and we ask that people not distribute it further. Thanks to you and the TC readers for helping us out on this one.
Brandee Barker
Facebook
