David C. Shepherd
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Transferring Tech

Code Search w/ Query Interpretation

4/25/2013

 
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When using code search tools, such as Find in Files, developers don't want to waste mental energy crafting the perfect search query, they just want to find relevant code. Previous versions of the Sando Code Search Extension helped by providing users with conceptual autocompletion. Even with this help we found users creating ill-advised queries (including very smart, experienced developers).  For instance, users would perform literal searches (e.g., document.Add) without adding the required quotes (e.g., "document.Add"). Or they'd enter a (previously) unsupported query format, like a wildcard query (e.g., custom*Document). To make it more natural for developers to interact with Sando we expanded our query interpretation code in today's release. Developers can enter a keyword query (e.g., open file), a literal query (e.g., File.Open), or even a wildcard query (e.g., Document*Create) and expect Sando to take care of the details of returning relevant results. 

Please give Sando's new query interpretation code a spin and let us know what you think! If you like this new direction we'll look into even better query interpretation in the future. 

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Sando Code Search Tool
Supported Languages: C, C++, and C#
Supported IDEs: Visual Studio 2010 - 2012 (All Editions)
Available: Visual Studio Gallery

Why Do Developers Use FindInFiles?

4/12/2013

 
Here's an example search using FindInFiles (left) and Sando (right):
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I'm genuinely curious, why do Visual Studio developers prefer FindInFiles instead of search tools like Entrian's Source Search or my own group's Sando Code Search tool? Let me know in the comments and feel free to be brutally honest!

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    David Shepherd leverages software engineering research to create useful additions to the IDE. 

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