Do developers search for source code examples using multiple facts?

In this paper we examine the search behaviours of developers using the Strathcona source code example recommendation system over the period of three years. In particular, we investigate the number of query facts software engineers included in their queries as they searched for source code examples. We found that in practice developers predominantly searched with multiple search facts and tended to constrain their queries by iteratively adding more facts as needed. Our experience with this data suggest that example search tools should both support searching with multiple facts as well and facilitate the construction of multi-fact queries.