In our previous Radar, we featured two tools that search and replace code using an abstract syntax tree (AST) representation, Comby and Sourcegraph. Although they share some similarities, they also differ in several ways. Sourcegraph is a commercial tool (with a 10-user free tier). It's particularly suited for searching, navigating or cross-referencing in large codebases, with an emphasis on an interactive developer experience. In contrast, Comby is a lightweight open-source command-line tool for automating repetitive tasks. Because Sourcegraph is a hosted service, it also has the ability to continuously monitor code bases and send alerts when a match occurs. Now that we've gained more experience with Sourcegraph, we decided to move it into the Trial ring to reflect our positive experience — which doesn't mean that Sourcegraph is better than Comby. Each tool focuses on a different niche.
Another abstract syntax tree–based code search tool that received our attention is Sourcegraph. In contrast to Comby, which is open source, Sourcegraph is a commercial tool (with a 10-user free tier). Sourcegraph is particularly suited for searching, navigating or cross-referencing in large codebases. The cloud-hosted version can be accessed through Sourcegraph's website and is designed to search publicly available open-source repositories. Whereas Comby is a lightweight command-line tool for automating repetitive tasks, Sourcegraph's emphasis is on interactive developer tools for understanding and navigating large code bases. Unlike Comby's sed-like interface, Sourcegraph's automated code rewriting capability is driven from a UI, allowing users to review changes before they're made. Because Sourcegraph is a hosted service, it also has the ability to continuously monitor code bases and send alerts when a match occurs.
