ICCheck: A Portable, Language-Agnostic Tool for Synchronizing Code Clones
This addresses the issue of software defects from inconsistent code clone modifications for developers working across multiple programming languages and environments, representing an incremental improvement by applying existing techniques to a new, broader context.
The authors tackled the problem of inconsistent modifications to code clones leading to software defects by developing ICCheck, a portable, language-agnostic tool that synchronizes code clones across diverse programming languages and environments, achieving detection of overlooked modifications in over 30 languages with interactive suggestions delivered within a median of 0.27 seconds.
Inconsistent modifications to code clones can lead to software defects. Many approaches exist to support consistent modifications based on clone detection and/or change pattern extraction. However, no tool currently supports synchronization of code clones across diverse programming languages and development environments. We propose ICCheck, a tool designed to be language-agnostic and portable across various environments. By leveraging an existing language-agnostic clone search technique and limiting the tool's external dependency to an existing Git repository, we developed a tool that can assist in synchronizing code clones in diverse environments. We validated the tool's functionality in multiple open-source repositories, where ICCheck was able to detect overlooked clone modifications in over 30 programming and domain-specific languages and delivered interactive suggestions within a median of 0.27 seconds in editor environments, demonstrating its language independence and responsiveness. Furthermore, by supporting the Language Server Protocol, we confirmed that ICCheck can be integrated into multiple development environments with minimal effort. ICCheck is available at https://github.com/salab/iccheck