In association with heise online

17 October 2011, 10:10

Google's open source search to end

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • submit to slashdot
  • StumbleUpon
  • submit to reddit

Google Code Search screenshot
Zoom Google Code Search allowed developers to search for code snippets
Google has announced that it is closing Google Code Search – the search engine which specifically crawls open source software – on 15 January, 2012. Google says that the closure is part of its current programme to focus on products that people "use two or three times a day". Code Search and its associated API, which was deprecated by Google in May, will be shut down together.

The closure will see the end of a resource that opened in 2006 to help open source developers who are looking for snippets of code, under particular licenses or as part of a specific package. It was noted by security experts in 2006 that it could also assist hackers looking for common weak spots in different packages. When the service shuts down, the third party open source plugins that use the API, such as those for Eclipse and IntelliJ, will also cease to function. On Twitter, Miguel De Icaza called the service "The one tool I use every day". One of the few cross-language alternatives to Google Code Search is Black Duck's Koders.com.

The closure of Code Search is part of a "fall sweep", which also sees the final closure of the Jaiku service (open sourced as a Google App Engine application in 2009) and the University Research Program for Google Search; both will be shuttered on 15 January, 2012.

(djwm)

Print Version | Send by email | Permalink: http://h-online.com/-1362113
 


  • July's Community Calendar





The H Open

The H Security

The H Developer

The H Internet Toolkit