Slashcode is a sort of
Frankenstein of the web. While it is very
adept at handling
high user situations, it is also a horrid combination of poor perl skills and too much free time.
For instance, contained within every HTML header of a site using Slashcode is a random quote from the Fox TV Show, Futurama. Such quotes, straight from the source code, include:
"Bender: Bite my shiney metal ass!"
"Fry:If this is some kind of scam, I don't get it. You already have my power of attorney."
"Fry:Make up some feelings and tell her you have them."
There are over one hundred of these, which user.pm picks from at random, assuring unnecessary code bloat, and a large waste of CPU cycles. This is especially apparent when between 1 and 5000 simultaneous users read the Slashcode using page at any one time, causing this code to run for each and every page view, by each and every user..
In addition to this, taking only from examples user.pm, we shall observe some of the most helpful, insightful comments I've yet to observe:
"# BENDER: Oh, so, just 'cause a robot wants to kill humans
# that makes him a radical?"
"# do we need to do this too? i am leaning toward No. -- pudge"
(The code is still next to this comment, leading me to believe it was never resolved. Yet another waste of CPU time.)
Many of the comments in Slashcode consist of either: A) Chatter between developers, or B) Random, useless quotes. In fact, while one may think you would erase these before releasing such an important piece of server software, it appears a distinct lack of professionalism taints the developers. To make matters worse, its creator, CmdrTaco constantly complains about a lack of submitted patches. He seems to believe that, due to the fact he has open sourceed his "creation", he is entitled to help with it.
While Slashcode has some useful things, such as its intriguing "friends" system, overall it is a poorly hacked together piece of software. I am currently amazed that it has held up under the strain of the major sites that use it, such as Slashdot itself.
As far as using it goes, I'd suggest you avoid it like the black plague. Instead, go look at Kuro5hin's Scoop system; not only does it remain written in perly goodness, but it is much better executed. It also contains many more neat features, and doesn't waste CPU time like some sort of horrible electronic vampire.
(Note: The preceding examples were meant to be just that: examples. If one is to download the Slashcode, you'll see that there are many, many more such problems in it. For this, I kept things simple, and took examples from only one (out of more than 40) of the source files: user.pm.)