I tried to find the source code for org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory, the most important interface of Spring. Neither koders nor krugle had it in the first few dozen search results, though both found many other classes that reference that interface.

On koders.com, I managed to get the BeanFactory source code by clicking through the folder hierarchy of the spring CVS repository, but when I click on the name of a linked class, say NoSuchBeanDefinitionException, I just get back to the search results for that name instead of directly to the class.

On krugle, some other source code that I managed to find did not contain links at all. The only way to get from one class to the next seems to be pasting the class name into the search box…

In my IDE, I can look at the source code of a class, click on a class or method name referenced by it, and get directly to the code for that class or method. Of course, that only works if I tell my IDE where to find the source code of all those classes – which shouldn’t be necessary. When I click on a class name, I want my browser or my IDE or whatever to get the source code from somewhere on the web, add syntax highlighting and links, and show it to me. I want to jump from one class to the next without having to install any source code, and without entering class names into a search box.

I hope one day Krugle / Koders / Google / Eclipse or whoever will implement that! All we really need is a global registry that maps class names to URLs…