CloneDifferentiator: Analyzing clones by differentiation

Clone detection provides a scalable and efficient way to detect similar code fragments. But it offers limited explanation of differences of functions performed by clones and variations of control and data flows of clones. We refer to such differences as semantic differences of clones. Understanding these semantic differences is essential to correctly interpret cloning information and perform maintenance tasks on clones. Manual analysis of semantic differences of clones is complicated and error-prone. In the paper, we present our clone analysis tool, called Clone-Differentiator. Our tool automatically characterizes clones returned by a clone detector by differentiating Program Dependence Graphs (PDGs) of clones. CloneDifferentiator is able to provide a precise characterization of semantic differences of clones. It can provide an effective means of analyzing clones in a task oriented manner.