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Google Plans to Reveal Some of its Code

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the could-you-be-more-vague-please dept.

Andy Beal writes "According to Australia's The Age, Google plans to reveal some of the code it uses to great success. It says ' "The time has come for Google to "give something back", Wayne Rosing, the company's vice-president of engineering, told students while on a recruiting drive in Melbourne last week. "There have been a lot of conversations in the company in the past two months about (how) . . . it's time for us to give something back. So our technical director, Craig Silverstein, has started a project to look at all the Google code and start figuring out what parts of it we want to give back," Rosing said.'"

28 of 383 comments (clear)

  1. Yahoo! by xenostar · · Score: 5, Funny

    In other news, Yahoo! announced it will be completely overhauling its search engine.

  2. Will they release all or part of PageRank? by Valejo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Microsoft will smile, but pigeons will frown.

  3. They were here ...? by The+Sith+Lord · · Score: 2, Funny

    A recruiting drive in Melbourne?
    Why wasn't I informed? (nice one RMIT, keeping us students in the know)

  4. The Code - REVEALED! by strictnein · · Score: 3, Funny
    Preview of source code to be released:
    int main()
    {
    // magic google code removed

    // Rest of code

    // How many records did we "find"?
    int random1 = rand();
    int random2 = rand();
    int random3 = rand();
    int random4 = rand();

    cout << "Results 1 - 10 of about " << random1 * random2 ^ random3 << "for " << SEARCH_ENTRY << ". ( " << random4 << "seconds)";

    }
    --
    Casual Games/Downloads
    1. Re:The Code - REVEALED! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yahoo has decided to release some of theirs:

      std::vector mainsearch( const std::string& pQuery )
      {
      if (pQuery == "George Bush")
      return DoBeltway();
      else if (pQuery == "Osama Bin Laden")
      return DoTerror();
      else if (pQuery == "JLo")
      return DoCelebs();
      else if (pQuery == "Microsoft")
      return DoTech();
      else if (pQuery == "Lord of the Rings")
      return DoGeekFlicks(); // else
      return DoAds();
      }

    2. Re:The Code - REVEALED! by Psiren · · Score: 4, Funny

      You haven't flushed your output ;-)

    3. Re:The Code - REVEALED! by OverflowingBitBucket · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's not enough that Google are going to reveal some of their code, but people expect them to give away their special return value to main() too? *shakes head sadly*

  5. Re:Is there anything Google can't do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    Almost too good. It's suspicious, really. Secret government organization? *don's tinfoil hat*

  6. Re:Is there anything Google can't do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    *don's tinfoil hat*

    You better give it back. Don gets very nervous without it.

  7. I wouldn't. by waynelorentz · · Score: 1, Funny

    I know I won't be releasing any of the souce code to any of the back-end things I've written for my web site.

    People would just laugh at it.

    Disclaimer for the clueless: I'm not a programmer, so my code sucks so bad it's funny.

    --
    World's tallest building rises in the desert
    1. Re:I wouldn't. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      make our day, make us laugh.
      c'mon and share your code ;)
      5 REM Look up document schemas some other time
      10 PRINT "<HTML>"
      20 PRINT "<HEAD>"
      30 GOSUB 1000: REM Add meta tags
      40 PRINT "</HEAD>"'"<BODY>"
      50 GOSUB 2000: REM Add content
      60 PRINT "</BODY>"
      70 PRINT "</HTML>"
      80 GOTO 3000: REM Post data
  8. Re:Excellent! by SpiritOfGrandeur · · Score: 3, Funny
    Although Google obviously won't be releasing it's search algorithms it might well release the code for things like the Google FileSystem (PDF) which may benefit a lot of people.
    If this was to happen just imagine how much longer we would have to wait for Microsoft to release Longhorn.
  9. Re:Nothing "magic" about it... by Ford+Prefect · · Score: 2, Funny

    The magic will be how they are keeping Microsoft at bay.

    I'd say they've laid down the gauntlet, and are seeing what Microsoft does next.

    Imagine what Microsoft would feel like, in possession of Google's crown jewels - countless millions of lines of Linux-dependent source code. It would be bloody expensive to port, and if the only way of running it is by installing Linux on zillions of servers...

    Go on, Microsoft, give in to the dark side! ;-)

    --
    Tedious Bloggy Stuff - hooray?
  10. Here's some more code by callipygian-showsyst · · Score: 3, Funny

    using System.XML;

    [...]

    if (ContainsAdSenseAds())
    {
    pageRank++;
    }

    --
    Best Buy can have you arrested
    1. Re:Here's some more code by Petronius · · Score: 4, Funny

      using System.XML;

      [...]

      if (ContainsAdSenseAds())
      {
      pageRank++;
      profit();
      }

      --
      there's no place like ~
  11. Re:and Sun is "opening" Java... by koekepeer · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Counting them out before they even get started is a little unfair, don't you think?"

    yeah we only do that when we talk about MS or SCO or something *grin*

  12. I already have the code... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ... and all I did was visit they page and select "View Source" from the menu.

  13. Re:how? by fanfriggintastic · · Score: 4, Funny
    Having a friend inside Google, I'm privy to certain information. The first few lines of the google code, for example:
    <HTML>
    <HEAD>
    <TITLE>Google </TITLE>
    ...
    --
    This is not the greatest sig in the world, no. This is a tribute.
  14. Re:Wonder what it'll be! by haluness · · Score: 2, Funny

    I have the algorithm but this comment does not have enough space for me to describe it :)

  15. Re:Sure why not by Gorgonzola · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actually, I'd love to have a brain implant that would allow me to query Google just by thinking about it. It would probably disqualify me for any TV quiz show, but would otherwise be really nifty.

    --
    -- Spelling and grammar errors tend to be a sign of erroneous thinking.
  16. Re:Is there anything Google can't do? by Dirk+Pitt · · Score: 5, Funny
    what code are they going to release

    They're releasing all the code that changes the bannerhead to some cute picture on holidays. Powerful stuff.

  17. Re:Good ol' google by johndeeregator · · Score: 2, Funny

    Reno 911! Dangle: Jones, run his name through the computer. Jones: Should I Google him? Dangle: Google? You have a f--king police computer. You don't need to use f--king Google. You're spending too much time looking for Internet porn.

  18. Re:Good ol' google by AviLazar · · Score: 2, Funny

    I think the average web user would be pretty surprised to see what actually goes on behind the scenes at Google. That simple search page which holds very little content -- the search controls, a logo, and a few links -- is actually a front to a mighty army of servers, and some fairly advanced search technology.
    The "average" web user couldn't tell the difference between a line of code and a two year old's scribbling
    "Cout? What's a cout? Boy, you've made a typo - you meant to say clout. You know, what politicians use to get what they want." :)

    --

    I mod down so you can mod up. Your welcome.
  19. I know!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Maybe they could give us the source code to their webpage. It would be cool to find out what HTML code they used to get it to look like that

  20. Re:Excellent! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Python? Google has PHDs working for them. Obviously the engine is written in Perl you fool.

  21. only on slashdot by Lehk228 · · Score: 5, Funny

    would you get criticised for bugs and deviation from standards in your joke source code.

    --
    Snowden and Manning are heroes.
  22. Sneak Preview of the Code from Google by GweeDo · · Score: 3, Funny

    /*
    * Allocate 'size' units from the given map.
    * Return the base of the allocated space.
    * In a map, the addresses are increasing and the
    * list is terminated by a 0 size.
    * Algorithm is first-fit.
    */

    ulong_t
    atealloc(
    struct map *mp,
    size_t size)
    {
    register unsigned int a;
    register struct map *bp;
    register unsigned long s;

    SCO's not going to be happy about this ;)

    --
    Unstable Apps: Our Android Apps Don't Suck
  23. Bill Gates hopes it's under the BSD license by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    They've been waiting for this. Can you imagine? Just grab Google's code, implement it in the new msn search and don't tell anyone...