Publication
Title
Clone detection in test code : an empirical evaluation
Author
Abstract
Duplicated test code (a.k.a. test code clones) has a negative impact on test comprehension and maintenance. Moreover, the typical structure of unit test code induces structural similarity, increasing the amount of duplication. Yet, most research on software clones and clone detection tools is focused on production code, often ignoring test code. In this paper we fill this gap by comparing four different clone detection tools (NiCad, CPD, iClones, TCORE) against the test code of three open-source projects. Our analysis confirms the prevalence of test code clones, as we observed between 23% and 29% test code duplication. We also show that most of the tools suffer from false negatives (NiCad = 83%, CPD = 84%, iClones = 21%, TCORE = 65%), which leaves ample room for improvement. These results indicate that further research on test clone detection is warranted.
Language
English
Source (journal)
PROCEEDINGS OF THE 2020 IEEE 27TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOFTWARE ANALYSIS, EVOLUTION, AND REENGINEERING (SANER '20)
Source (book)
27th IEEE International Conference on Software Analysis, Evolution, and, Reengineering (SANER), FEB 18-21, 2020, London, CANADA
Publication
New york : Ieee , 2020
ISBN
978-1-72815-143-4
DOI
10.1109/SANER48275.2020.9054798
Volume/pages
(2020) , p. 492-500
ISI
000568240800044
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (publisher's version - intranet only)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 19.10.2020
Last edited 07.12.2024
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