Prospector would mine code, called "Google for programmers" An Eclipse IDE plug-in that would provide search capabilities specifically for developers is being readied by a University of California, Berkeley computer science professor.The project, called Prospector, is intended to provide a “search engine” for Java code examples and help programmers use and learn about object-oriented APIs, according to Rastislav Bodik, assistant professor of Computer Science at UC Berkeley. The free plug-in is expected later this month.The primary design goal, according to a brief on Prospector, is to help out programmers that get stuck using complex APIs. Bodik likened the plug-in to a search engine for finding code. He noted that the open source movement has made a lot of code available for developers, if they can find it. “You have a lot of software that other people have written, because you made it easier for other people to contribute, but to find what you need is extremely painful,” Bodik said. He has worked on Prospector with UC Berkeley associates and an IBM employee.“What we hope is [Prospector] will become the Google for programmers,” Bodik said.Prospector, according to the brief, combines information from Java class and method declarations with information derived from code examples into a graph model of API usage patterns. Based on a query, Prospector searches the graph for paths from the “have” class to the “want” class and then converts the paths into legal Java source code. Users can ask Prospector for a list of code examples. “The real thing should be a plug-in for Eclipse, so that the search doesn’t appear on the Web site but the search appears directly in the code you are writing,” Bodik said.Although initially limited to Java language code, the technology may at some point be expanded to Microsoft C#, although there are no current plans to do so, Bodik said. “We’ll see how it goes for Java,” he said.Bodik participated at an IBM panel examining open computing and open source issues in San Francisco Tuesday. He applauded IBM’s investment in open source software, saying the complexity of software requires substantial funding. “The IBM investment in Eclipse and other technologies is usable and high-quality and actually building the community,” Bodik said. An official of Wind River at the event pointed out the dilemma of wanting to participate in open source but still make money. “The industry as a whole is struggling with that,” said John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer of Wind River. The company has been selling value-added technology to work with open source software, he said. Wind River specializes in embeddable software for devices, including software deployed on the Mars Exploration Rover.IBM at the event unveiled a “Power Zone” for its developerWorks technology development program, to serve as informational resource on the Power hardware architecture. IBM also is sprucing up developerWorks site with additional technical resources for wireless, embedded, and speech technologies. Software Development