Ever since we started making use of structured web search capabilities, I have been fascinated by the precise results we can obtain from a general search engine via this mechanism.
Here is an investigation and multiple examples of precise X-Raying on Github.com, which is a truly useful site to know if you are looking for software developers.
For those (few) Sourcers who love working with advanced search operators – here is where you will find tons of long and barely readable expressions, that you can change to your liking! For your convenience, I have placed a search box for Custom X-Raying Github below as well.
For those who’d rather skip the cryptic search syntax, the good news is that we have a new, unique Sourcing Tool in development – currently, in a stealth mode – that will relieve end users of needing to use these operators. (Please follow us for more news!)
For now, just take a look at the search results. You will find them to be precisely finding what we are looking for in each case – a big difference with “general” Google and most social sites.
Here you go:
Examples – Github Precise XRay Member Search
- works for Google
- works for Amazon
- has a publicly posted email address
- has a school-based email address (.edu)
- has a redhat.com-based email address
- name is Jim
- name is Lisa or Mary or Susan or Karen
- Github handle contains tim
- has a link to his/her own site
- has a Gmail address, lives in the “Bay Area”, and writes in Ruby
- writes in Python, lives in San Francisco
- writes in Javascript, lives in the UK
- writes in Ruby AND Python
- code description contains “machine learning”
Want to build your own? The Custom Search Engines Webinar is coming up!
And here is a
Github Custom XRay Engine