article

Change impact graphs: Determining the impact of prior codechanges

Authors:

Daniel M. German,

Ahmed E. Hassan,

Gregorio RoblesAuthors Info & Claims

Information and Software Technology, Volume 51, Issue 10

Pages 1394 - 1408

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2009.04.018

Published: 01 October 2009 Publication History

Abstract

The source code of a software system is in constant change. The impact of these changes spreads out across the software system and may lead to the sudden manifestation of failures in unchanged parts. To help developers fix such failures, we propose a method that, in a pre-processing stage, analyzes prior code changes to determine what functions have been modified. Next, given a particular period of time in the past, the functions changed during that period are propagated throughout the rest of the system using the dependence graph of the system. This information is visualized using Change Impact Graphs (CIGs). Through a case study based on the Apache Web Server, we demonstrate the benefit of using CIGs to investigate several real defects.

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Cited By

Sattler FBöhm SSchubert PSiegmund NApel S(2023)SEAL: Integrating Program Analysis and Repository MiningACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/358500832:5(1-34)Online publication date: 24-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3585008
German DAdams BStewart K(2019)cregitEmpirical Software Engineering10.1007/s10664-019-09704-x24:4(2725-2763)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10664-019-09704-x
Rodríguez-Pérez GZaidman ASerebrenik ARobles GGonzález-Barahona JOivo MMéndez DMockus A(2018)What if a bug has a different origin?Proceedings of the 12th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement10.1145/3239235.3267436(1-4)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3239235.3267436
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Change impact graphs: Determining the impact of prior codechanges

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cover image Information and Software Technology

Information and Software Technology Volume 51, Issue 10

October, 2009

109 pages

ISSN:0950-5849

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Copyright © Elsevier B.V. © 2009.

Publisher

Butterworth-Heinemann

United States

Publication History

Published: 01 October 2009

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Cited By

Sattler FBöhm SSchubert PSiegmund NApel S(2023)SEAL: Integrating Program Analysis and Repository MiningACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology10.1145/358500832:5(1-34)Online publication date: 24-Jul-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3585008
German DAdams BStewart K(2019)cregitEmpirical Software Engineering10.1007/s10664-019-09704-x24:4(2725-2763)Online publication date: 1-Aug-2019
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10664-019-09704-x
Rodríguez-Pérez GZaidman ASerebrenik ARobles GGonzález-Barahona JOivo MMéndez DMockus A(2018)What if a bug has a different origin?Proceedings of the 12th ACM/IEEE International Symposium on Empirical Software Engineering and Measurement10.1145/3239235.3267436(1-4)Online publication date: 11-Oct-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3239235.3267436
M. Ferreira KS. Bigonha MS. Bigonha RLima BGomes BO. Mendes L(2018)A model for estimating change propagation in softwareSoftware Quality Journal10.1007/s11219-017-9358-626:2(217-248)Online publication date: 1-Jun-2018
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s11219-017-9358-6
Rufiange SFuhrman C(2014)Visualizing protected variations in evolving software designsJournal of Systems and Software10.5555/2747015.274718288:C(231-249)Online publication date: 1-Feb-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/2747015.2747182
Russo BSteff MCounsell SMarchesi MVisaggio AZhang HVenkatasubramanyam R(2014)What can changes tell about software processes?Proceedings of the 5th International Workshop on Emerging Trends in Software Metrics10.1145/2593868.2593869(1-7)Online publication date: 3-Jun-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/2593868.2593869
Uquillas Gómez VDucasse SKellens A(2014)Supporting streams of changes during branch integrationScience of Computer Programming10.1016/j.scico.2014.07.01296:P1(84-106)Online publication date: 15-Dec-2014
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.scico.2014.07.012
Alam OAdams BHassan A(2012)Preserving knowledge in software projectsJournal of Systems and Software10.1016/j.jss.2012.03.02885:10(2318-2330)Online publication date: 1-Oct-2012
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.jss.2012.03.028
Tóth GHegedűs PBeszédes ÁGyimóthy TJász JKrall AMössenböck H(2010)Comparison of different impact analysis methods and programmer's opinionProceedings of the 8th International Conference on the Principles and Practice of Programming in Java10.1145/1852761.1852777(109-118)Online publication date: 15-Sep-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1852761.1852777
Herzig KKramer JBishop JDevanbu PUchitel S(2010)Capturing the long-term impact of changesProceedings of the 32nd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering - Volume 210.1145/1810295.1810401(393-396)Online publication date: 1-May-2010
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1810295.1810401

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