Visualizing code clone outbreak: An industrial case study

Abstract

This paper describes an industrial experience on code clone visualization. Cloning source code fragments is a common practice in software development process. However, uncontrolled proliferation of code clones causes a serious problem in terms of software maintenance. In this paper, we briefly share our experience on code clone visualization especially for stakeholders who are not software experts. We describe our prototype tool for code clone visualization, and the feedback we have received with analyzing an enterprise business system.

Approximating the Evolution History of Software from Source Code

“…Yoshimura et al visualized cloned files in industrial products [13]. They have used an edit distance function as a source file similarity to find out cloned files whose contents are almost the same.…”

Analysis and clustering of model clones: An automotive industrial experience

“…Yoshimura and Mibe [8] present their experience in visualizing code clones in an industrial setting, analyzing an enterprise business application at Hitachi. The authors emphasized the importance of tool support for large-scale systems and a suitable visualization of clone results to help stakeholders understand their systems.…”

Extraction of product evolution tree from source code of product variants

“…Yoshimura et al visualized cloned files in industrial products [25]. They have used an edit distance function as a source file similarity to find out cloned files whose contents are almost the same.…”

“…Its cost function is defined by the number of similar files between products. Similarity between files is computed by Yoshimura's function, which is based on the longest common subsequence of the files [25].…”