Developing a Social Network requires the right selection of technologies that are going to handle the system’s functionality. These technologies need to be able to process a large volume of data with minimal delays and interruptions. They also need to guarantee a real-time flow of data and a high level of security.
The MEAN stack is used for most real-time and data-intensive web platforms. It consists of 4 technologies, MongoDB, ExpressJS, AngularJS and NodeJS. Many companies use the concept of MEAN stack such as PayPal, Uber and LinkedIn.
MongoDB is considered a NoSQL open-source, cross-platform, document-oriented database which uses JSON-like documents to exchange information. MongoDB is easily configurable and can store large volumes of data in an unstructured way. As a result, queries are executed much faster compared to traditional database technologies such as MySQL.
ExpressJS is a web application framework for NodeJS used for building single page applications (SPA). SPA’s are ideal for social networks as they minimise the number of requests to the server and consume less mobile data (for users who use mobile devices).
AnglarJS is a JavaScript framework for dynamic web applications. It extends HTML’s basic functionality making components more clear and concise. It also allows the use of data binding and dependency injection eliminating a big part of the code that needs to be written by the developer.
NodeJS can be used for developing the backend of the system. It works on a non-blocking I/O model that is ideal for data-intensive real-time applications as it can perform asynchronous operations maximising the usage of a single CPU and memory on the server side. It also allows the use of event-driven triggers which are ideal for live-updating the system content(no need for users to manually refresh a page).
To ensure the security of the system and its data, the application’s code needs to include the proper security configurations. Some of the most usual threats to an online application include SQL injection, Cross-site scripting (XSS) and Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) attacks. Some techniques for preventing those attacks are by sanitising input values, using CSRF tokens when sending data between forms and encrypting sensitive data such as passwords, credit card numbers etc.