Mapping Code Clones Using Incremental Clone Detection

Understanding the evolution of duplicated source code is necessary to investigate the phenomenon of cloning. To trace individual code clones across mul-tiple program versions, clones of consecutive versions need to be mapped. Current methods detect clones of different versions first and then map detected clones retroactively. I present an approach to map individual clones be-tween consecutive program versions during clone de-tection. The method is integrated into a token-based incremental clone detection algorithm. Clones are mapped according to the changes made to the source files of the program between versions.