[Quintox]

I just started getting into web design, and my website is just a Wordpress blog basically (which is so easy of course) and I do have experience in editing CSS files and such, but only to a minimum.

And it got me thinking, what in the world do you do to create/code a site like Myspace, facebook, and the dating sites? It can't all be written by hand, what exactly do you have to do?

And, just out of curiosity, is there a program or something that can get you started on this? (Even if it's crappy looking) No, I am not going to create a Myspace site for people to meet each other, I'd just like to look at it.

[jaeusm]

It can't all be written by hand

I think you'd be surprised just how much is written by hand -- especially the back end.

[Vormund]

Yeah, it's all coded by hand. Who knows what the exact server details are or how they store data, but it's the basic concept of any interactive website:

What in particular do you think is difficult? It's 99% posting forms and either mapping file locations and/or inserting data into the database. Try PHP/MySQL - you can put those cheesy/crappy websites to shame. And when you do, you'll be rich. All they have going for 'em is their member-base and there's no other excellent alternative (a reason to switch), etc, etc.

[lutics]

Look into learning PHP, thats the major code, then look at some open source forums, then you will get the gist of it. Myspace is like a modified forum.