Dagstuhl Seminar Proceedings. 06301 - Duplication, Redundancy, and Similarity in Software
Doi
Abstract
An objective definition of what a code clone is currently eludes the field.
A small study was performed at an international workshop to elicit
judgments and discussions from world experts regarding what characteristics
define a code clone. Less than half of the clone candidates judged had
80% agreement amongst the judges. Judges appeared to differ primarily in
their criteria for judgment rather than their interpretation of the clone
candidates. In subsequent open discussion the judges provided several
reasons for their judgments. The study casts additional doubt on the
reliability of experimental results in the field when the full criterion
for clone judgment is not spelled out
