Code search describes the process of retrieving source code from a repository, where that source code matches a query. Whether a developer is looking for where an error was thrown, learning how to use a new-to-them API, learning a new programming language, or browsing their team’s directory to familiarize themselves with the codebase, search underpins all these activities. Beyond those human-driven software engineering processes, search is also a component in automated software engineering, such as automated program repair, code example recommendation, and clone detection. Furthermore, new generative AI tools have challenged traditional code search by presenting alternative approaches to finding and reusing code.
This Dagstuhl Seminar brings together experts in mining software repositories, human factors in software engineering, software documentation, code examples, program analysis, and industrial code search systems to bridge the gap between industry and academia and set the roadmap for the next decade of code search research.