This article covers a simple method to search code in GitHub using regular expressions. A regular expression is a specific sequence of characters that used to define a pattern for search. It is also referred as ‘regexp’ or ‘regex’. Using regular expressions, you can create patterns to find specific character combinations.
grep.app is a free website that allows you to search code in GitHub using regular expressions. You can simply enter a regular expression on the website and it will search that in over half a million public GitHub repos and finds you the matching results. You can sort the results for rough or exact match and apply filters for repositories and path. Apart from the regular expressions, you can also search for regular words and phrases to find similar codes.
Also read: How to Run Any GitHub Repository in 1-Click without Downloading?
Search Code in GitHub using Regular Expressions
grep.app is a simple one-page website where you get a search bar to type your search keyword. Below the search bar, there are three search options: Case sensitive, Regular expression, and Whole word. To search code using Regular expression, check the Regular expression box first and run your query. If you don’t check the Regular expression box, it treats the express just like characters.
The results show the best matches as per your query. The result page shows you 10 results per page. By default, it shows you a short preview of the matching code but you can expand that to full by choosing the “Extended” option from the top. Each result also shows you the exact matches a code has for your query.
Apart from Regular expression, you can also find code by words, phrases, and exact matches. If your result page is overwhelmed with matches, you can filters out the results by repositories, paths, and programming languages. This way, you can easily find code on GitHub.
Closing Words
grep.app is a nice website that helps you quickly search through thousands of public GitHub repos for a code. It can be very handy for students, coders, or anyone who is looking to gain some programming perspectives or get some help on the internet. Currently, it searches through over half a million public repos with more to come later in the future.
