loading...
 This Article 
   
 Share 
   
 Bibliographic References 
   
 Add to: 
 
Digg
Furl
Spurl
Blink
Simpy
Google
Del.icio.us
Y!MyWeb
 
 Search 
   
29th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE'07)
Tracking Code Clones in Evolving Software
Minneapolis, Minnesota
May 20-May 26
ISBN: 0-7695-2828-7
Ekwa Duala-Ekoko, McGill University, Canada
Martin P. Robillard, McGill University, Canada
Code clones are generally considered harmful in software development, and the predominant approach is to try to eliminate them through refactoring. However, recent research has provided evidence that it may not always be practical, feasible, or cost-effective to eliminate certain clone groups. We propose a technique for tracking clones in evolving software. Our technique relies on the concept of abstract clone region descriptors (CRD), which describe clone regions within methods in a robust way that is independent from the exact text of the clone region or its location in a file. We present our definition of CRDs, and describe a complete clone tracking system capable of producing CRDs from the output of a clone detection tool, notify developers of modifications to clone regions, and support the simultaneous editing of clone regions. We report on two experiments and a case study conducted to assess the performance and usefulness of our approach.
Citation:
Ekwa Duala-Ekoko, Martin P. Robillard, "Tracking Code Clones in Evolving Software," icse, pp.158-167, 29th International Conference on Software Engineering (ICSE'07), 2007
Usage of this product signifies your acceptance of the Terms of Use.