Cloned code: stable code

Abstract

SUMMARY Code clones are said to threaten the maintainability of a system—especially when the system evolves and source code is changed. Whether clones increase maintenance effort can be analyzed by comparing the stability of cloned code with the stability of non‐cloned code. A previous study found that cloned code is even more stable than non‐cloned code and, thus, may require less maintenance effort—contrary to the frequently voiced assumption. In this paper, we partially replicate this study using a more fine‐grained measurement. We furthermore extend the study to subject systems from academia and industry and evaluate the effect of different clone detection parameters on clone stability and how the stability changes over time. In general, we were able to confirm the findings of the previous study. Nevertheless, our results also show that clone stability varies depending on the clones' characteristics, the corresponding project environment, and over time. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.