Sourcegraph now provides a free plugin for VS Code to search for a piece of code across open source repositories. It uses code repository to search for the code and then you can simply read the entire source file from there. It can clone the entire repository tight in the VS Code and then you can take what file you want and use that. Here it is a great tool that you can use to solve problems to take inspiration.
If you are a programmer, then you can use it to quickly look implementation of some library or module. You can learn from real world projects, and then you are free to do anything you like. There is no sign up or registration required in order to use it. Just install the plugin and then you are all good to go. For all the search results that it returns, it will show you the source from where it fetched it.
Free Sourcegraph VS Code Plugin to Search in Open Source Repositories
You can search it in the plugins section of VS Code. Or, you can simply use this link to find it in the VS Code marketplace. After you install it, it will add its icon in the VS Code Sidebar. From, there, you can activate it and then do whatever you want.
Now, you enter some search term and it will immediately show you the matching results. In those generated results, you can go through them all if you want to. Based on what you search for, it will highlight the same expression in those results that it produces.
If you want to check out some file, then simply click on it. It will git clone the entire repository for you, and then you can analyze the entire code the matching file is a part of. By doing this, you will learn more about the project and usage of certain piece of code.
In this way, you can use this simple and powerful tool to search for code in the open source repositories. Just enter a search term and then you are all good to go. If you are a developer, then it will be like a kind of Stack Overflow for you. The difference here is that instead of searching for a problem, you will search for code example directly.
Final thoughts:
If you are a programmer or software developer and use VS Code, then you will like this. If you want to see implementation of certain module or function in any programming language, then you can just search for it. Without using your browser, you will have a lot of code repositories, from which you can learn how to use it.
