An iterative, metric space based software clone detection approach

Metric space is a set with definition of distance between elements within this set. This paper introduces metric space into code clone detection, and uses the distance within a metric space to measure the similarity level of code. It proposes an iterative process of building up a metric space to detect clones in software system. Based on metric space which is derived from software metric, the clone detection can avail us of more convenience and flexibility. We also exercise the approach in a real industry project.