| Do | Don’t | |----|-------| | Use view-source: to learn how Facebook structures its initial HTML | Try to scrape or automate requests | | Check meta tags for debugging | Copy large chunks of source code | | View your own profile source (carefully) | Post source code publicly (may contain private tokens) | | Combine with browser DevTools for full understanding | Assume view-source: shows the visible page content |
It is vital to understand the limitations of view-source . It only shows the initial HTML document sent by the server. view-source https www facebook com
When you first load view-source:https://www.facebook.com , the initial reaction is often surprise. Unlike a traditional website built with clear semantic HTML (e.g., <div class="header"> , <article> ), Facebook’s source code appears dense, cryptic, and almost entirely lacking in human readability. | Do | Don’t | |----|-------| | Use
This serves a dual purpose: it speeds up delivery for the user, and it makes reverse-engineering the site’s logic significantly harder for malicious actors. Unlike a traditional website built with clear semantic
Facebook is a app, so the initial source is mostly: