Google runs on 5000 times more code than the original space shuttle
Image: REUTERS/Kacper Pempel
You interact with millions of lines of Google code every day, whole lengths of them whirring into action every time you check your gmail or carry out a search.
Google is powered by billions of lines of code. But just how much goes into Google’s internet services might surprise you. The figure is 2 billion — that's 5,000 as many lines of code as the original space shuttle.
Google Chrome also has 135 times as much code as a simple iPhone photo-editing app.
Although nearly all the software we use today has thousands of times as much code as the original Unix operating system, developed by AT&T in 1970, Google still blows its competitors away in terms of sheer length.
Here’s how many lines of code are in your favourite apps and services.
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Francisco Betti
May 9, 2025
