Understanding the Effects of Code Clones on Modularity in Software Systems

Yu, Liguo; Ramaswamy, Srini; Vaidyanathan, A.

doi:10.1109/apsec.2012.49

2012 19th Asia-Pacific Software Engineering Conference 2012

DOI: 10.1109/apsec.2012.49

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Understanding the Effects of Code Clones on Modularity in Software Systems

Liguo Yu

Srini Ramaswamy

A. Vaidyanathan

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2024

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Cited by 2 publications

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The broken windows theory applies to technical debt

Levén,

Broman,

Besker

et al. 2024

Empir Software Eng

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Context: The term technical debt (TD) describes the aggregation of sub-optimal solutions that serve to impede the evolution and maintenance of a system. Some claim that the broken windows theory (BWT), a concept borrowed from criminology, also applies to software development projects. The theory states that the presence of indications of previous crime (such as a broken window) will increase the likelihood of further criminal activity; TD could be considered the broken windows of software systems. Objective: To empirically investigate the causal relationship between the TD density of a system and the propensity of developers to introduce new TD during the extension of that system. Method: The study used a mixed-methods research strategy consisting of a controlled experiment with an accompanying survey and follow-up interviews. The experiment had a total of 29 developers of varying experience levels completing system extension tasks in already existing systems with high or low TD density. Results: The analysis revealed significant effects of TD level on the subjects’ tendency to re-implement (rather than reuse) functionality, choose non-descriptive variable names, and introduce other code smells identified by the software tool , all with at least $$95\%$$ 95 % credible intervals. Coclusions: Three separate significant results along with a validating qualitative result combine to form substantial evidence of the BWT’s existence in software engineering contexts. This study finds that existing TD can have a major impact on developers propensity to introduce new TD of various types during development.

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The broken windows theory applies to technical debt

Levén,

Broman,

Besker

et al. 2024

Empir Software Eng

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Governing the commons: code ownership and code-clones in large-scale software development

Sundelin,

Gonzalez-Huerta,

Torkar

et al. 2024

Empir Software Eng

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Context In software development organizations employing weak or collective ownership, different teams are allowed and expected to autonomously perform changes in various components. This creates diversity both in the knowledge of, and in the responsibility for, individual components. Objective Our objective is to understand how and why different teams introduce technical debt in the form of code clones as they change different components. Method We collected data about change size and clone introductions made by ten teams in eight components which was part of a large industrial software system. We then designed a Multi-Level Generalized Linear Model (MLGLM), to illustrate the teams’ differing behavior. Finally, we discussed the results with three development teams, plus line manager and the architect team, evaluating whether the model inferences aligned with what they expected. Responses were recorded and thematically coded. Results The results show that teams do behave differently in different components, and the feedback from the teams indicates that this method of illustrating team behavior can be useful as a complement to traditional summary statistics of ownership. Conclusions We find that our model-based approach produces useful visualizations of team introductions of code clones as they change different components. Practitioners stated that the visualizations gave them insights that were useful, and by comparing with an average team, inter-team comparisons can be avoided. Thus, this has the potential to be a useful feedback tool for teams in software development organizations that employ weak or collective ownership.

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Understanding the Effects of Code Clones on Modularity in Software Systems

Cited by 2 publications

References 14 publications

The broken windows theory applies to technical debt

The broken windows theory applies to technical debt

Governing the commons: code ownership and code-clones in large-scale software development

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