Managing Copy-and-Paste Programming

Programmers often copy and paste source code in order to reuse an existing solution in the completion of a current task. Copying and pasting results in code clones (similar code fragments) throughout a code base, which need to be properly maintained over time. Forgetting the cloning information and correspondence relationships within a piece of code can be problematic for the software maintainer. Furthermore, inconsistent editing to clones can introduce undetected bugs, decreasing the quality of the software. This dissertation presents a suite of software tools, Eclipse plug-ins named CnP, that aid the programmer during copy, paste, and modify programming. The purpose is to provide tool support throughout a clone's entire lifecycle, from its creation to its removal from the system. More than just traditional clone detection and removal, these clone tracking tools have a particular focus on clone editing. CReN and LexId help with consistent identifier and substring renaming within clones, and CSeR visualizes user edits within a clone for better clone comparison. A user study was conducted with analysis in terms of task completion time, solution correctness, and method of completion.

Autorentext

Patricia Deshane (maiden name Jablonski) is originally from Amsterdam, NY, USA. She has a B.S. Mathematics (2002), M.B.A. (2003), M.S. I.T. (2004), and Ph.D. Engineering Science (2010) from Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY, USA. Her software engineering research interests include software maintenance, software quality, and source code management.