CSC/ECE 517 Fall 2009/wiki3 2 clone

Clone Detection and Clone Manipulation

Introduction

"Software clones are segments of code that are similar according to some definition of similarity" —Ira Baxter, 2002[1]. As per this definition, two code snippets may be similar based on text, syntactic structure or semantics or if they follow same pattern. Two code fragments are similar if their program text is similar. Code snippets may not be semantically equivalent. Such code snippets are also termed as redundant because if one changes then the other also needs to be changed. However, some clones cannot be replaced by another for example, two code snippets may be identical at the textual level but they refer to different variables declared in different places with the same name. Example of such clones is shown below:

Example of such clones is shown below:

 int count = 0;
 int methodA(string str)
 {
       for (int i=0;i<str.length;i++)
       {
          count = count + 1;
       }

 }
 int methodB(string str)
 {
       int count=0;
       for (int i=0;i<str.length;i++)
       {
 	  count = count + 1;
       }
 }

In the above code snippet, count in methodA refers to global variable whereas in methodB it refers to local count variable.

Clone Detection Tools

1. Duploc: This language independent tool helps in clone detection. It offers clicakble matrix display that helps developers to locate the source code snippet that is cloned. This tool includes an information mural algorithm, and it helps the tool to show a matrix of 100,000 lines per side in its entirety on a 600x800 screen[2]. The performance this tool is good for systems of sizes below 1 MLOC. And for maintenance projects those seldom change over time, duplication of code can be identified over night and can be interpreted on next day.
2. Moss:
3. JPlag:
4. Dup:
5. Dotplot:
6. Covet:
7. CloneDR:
8. CLAN:

Comparison With Refactoring

Clone detection, as mentioned before, is a technique for searching duplicate patterns of code. Refactoring on the other hand, is concerned with modifying internal structure while keeping the external behaviour the same. Currently, these two tools are loosely coupled. A clone detection tool usually strives to detect duplicate patterns while a refactoring tool behaves as a separate entity / tool that does refactoring only and no detection.

The two tools in a way complement each other. Refining code using clone detection and refactoring can be a two step process. In the first stage, clones are identified based on patterns. The detected patterns can then be handed over to a refactoring tool that can, based on various parameters, decide whether to keep a single copy or modify it to retain better readability.

References

1. http://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2007/962/pdf/06301.KoschkeRainer.962.pdf
2. http://scg.unibe.ch/archive/papers/Duca99bCodeDuplication.pdf
3. Clone Detection and Refactoring by Robert Tairas