For programmers only: Google Code Search

Anyone who has ever programmed and worked with lines and lines of code can appreciate Google's Code Search effort. It's no surprise this is coming from the search giant; it has been relying on excellent programming for a while and the service already existed in-house to help Google programmers. So why not give something back to the community?

The new search service Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is introducing is strictly for computer programmers. Google Code Search should simplify the work of software developers, especially as they're trying to sift through lines of code while trying to find appropriate code to add to their programs or improve on existing code.

The same techniques Google uses for web searches are applied in the code search. Only it will return results for search terms such as go{2}gle hello,\ world ^int printk, or lang:lisp xml lang:"c++" sprintf.*%s. Of course, only public source code will be searched. And yes, there is such a thing.

Google Blogoscoped compared the new Google Code Search with other existing services and found it to be better and more precise, returning more results and listing all appropriate file names.

Well, good for them, you might say, but how does that help the bottom line? Well, for starters, advertising could come later if the site is popular, but more importantly is exposure. With this site, Google can increase its exposure in areas where it is still struggling to gain market share in. Code language is universal and the public repositories often have many international users. The Code Search is one excellent way to make an impression internationally.