Search for Code: Techniques and Tools for Developers (video)

Find code fast: ripgrep, IDE search, GitHub code search, symbols, regex, docs, and AI explainers — plus reuse and licensing cautions.

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Search for Code: Techniques and Tools for Developers. Here's the short version.

Searching for code means different things: finding a symbol in your repo, hunting a pattern across services, searching public GitHub for examples, or asking AI to explain a snippet. This guide covers practical techniques and when each applies.

Search inside your repository. ripgrep (rg) — fast regex search from terminal: rg "ProcessPayment" -g "*.cs". IDE — go to definition, find references, symbol search. Language server — rename and reference queries across projects. Git history — git log -S "functionName" to see when lines changed.

GitHub code search. GitHub provides search syntax for public repositories.

AI-assisted search vs literal search. Literal search — exact matches; reproducible. AI explain — paraphrases and suggests; verify against source. Combine — search locates files; AI summarizes modules for onboarding.

Want to find these issues in your own code? Connect your GitHub repository to CodeInspector. You'll get findings with the file, line, severity, and a recommended fix, plus HTML and PDF reports for your team. Start free at codeinspector.app.

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