Code Search Engines are those websites where you can search code online in various programming languages.
These search engines are handy for developers who browse source codes, functions, APIs, SDKs, and more and use them in their projects. Learners will also find search engines very handy for studying and reference material.
This article explores 5 Free websites to search for code online. Their work is similar to regular search engines like Yahoo and Google. Drop in your search string and look for the relevant code in the search results.
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5 Free Websites to Search Code Online
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1. searchcode
This is probably one of the best websites that you can use to search for free code online. You can easily find many regular codes, APIs, libraries, functions, and more in nearly 90 programming languages, including popular ones like C, C#, HTML, Visual Basic, Javascript, JSON, Python, and many others.
SearchCode.com sources its code results from popular websites such as GitHub, Fedora, CodePlex, Google Code, etc.
Type in the search string depending on the code you wish to find and review the results. You can filter the search results by Repository, Programming language, etc., to locate the matching code quickly in the least possible time.
The results display a few code lines that resemble your query, and then you can click on them to read the entire code, copy it to the clipboard, navigate to the code source, etc.
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2. Open Hub
This is a different search engine that you can use to find various open-source projects that developers worldwide have contributed to.
After you search for a query and obtain the results, you can sort them by Relevance, Rating, Newest, Activity level, and more.
The search results also provide information on whether an existing project is active or inactive, the current contributors, license info, last commit, etc.
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3. ProgrammableWeb
This is a specialized online and searchable API directory that you can browse and search through approximately 25000 APIs.
You can filter all the APIs based on their category, protocol, release date, etc. On searching for the APIs, the search engine lists all the relevant ones with a provision to filter and refine the results based on API name, Followers, Description, and more so that you can get the best possible match.
When you click on any results to open the API, the website shows you detailed information like API Endpoint, Docs URL, Type, Category, etc., and a link to the source code.
4. Stack Overflow
Stack Overflow is an online forum for learners and experienced programmers developed using a question-and-answer format.
The work is effortless – users ask questions regarding specific programming issues, software algorithms, coding methods, etc., and others post their answers.
Since most of the questions posted on Stack Overflow are specifically related to coding issues, the answer often includes the sample code, which is why Stack Overflow is an excellent searchable repository for code snippets.
If any user is interested in reusing the code, they must attribute their sources as a rule by the site administrators. This website is an excellent launchpad for learning basic coding techniques and searching code snippets.
5. SearchCodeOnline.com
This is another search engine that Developers and Learners can use to search code on the Internet free of cost. The website allows you to search for code based on your keywords/phrases or sift through the readymade projects and code snippets in their directory storage.
All the popular types and code categories are available in SearchCodeOnline, such as Javascript, PHP, HTML, XML, SQL, Flash, Python, and many more.
The search results show a short description of the code and the programming language used to design it. They also provide information on the ratings, the number of downloads, license usage information, and more.
Wrapping Up
Each search engine and website we have listed above have its databases, repositories, and more. Whenever you are looking for free code for your project, you can try all the search engines above and see which one helps you locate the code snippet suited to your case.
