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A journey among Jav...
A journey among Java neutral program variants
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- Harrand, Nicolas (author)
- KTH,Programvaruteknik och datorsystem, SCS
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- Allier, Simon (author)
- DGA, Val De Reuil, France.
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- Rodriguez-Cancio, Marcelino (author)
- Vanderbildt Univ, Nashville, TN USA.
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- Monperrus, Martin (author)
- KTH,Teoretisk datalogi, TCS
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- Baudry, Benoit (author)
- KTH,Programvaruteknik och datorsystem, SCS
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(creator_code:org_t)
- 2019-06-25
- 2019
- English.
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In: Genetic Programming and Evolvable Machines. - : Springer. - 1389-2576 .- 1573-7632. ; 20:4, s. 531-580
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https://doi.org/10.1...
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Abstract
Subject headings
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- Neutral program variants are alternative implementations of a program, yet equivalent with respect to the test suite. Techniques such as approximate computing or genetic improvement share the intuition that potential for enhancements lies in these acceptable behavioral differences (e.g., enhanced performance or reliability). Yet, the automatic synthesis of neutral program variants, through program transformations remains a key challenge. This work aims at characterizing plastic code regions in Java programs, i.e., the code regions that are modifiable while maintaining functional correctness, according to a test suite. Our empirical study relies on automatic variations of 6 real-world Java programs. First, we transform these programs with three state-of-the-art program transformations: add, replace and delete statements. We get a pool of 23,445 neutral variants, from which we gather the following novel insights: developers naturally write code that supports fine-grain behavioral changes; statement deletion is a surprisingly effective program transformation; high-level design decisions, such as the choice of a data structure, are natural points that can evolve while keeping functionality. Second, we design 3 novel program transformations, targeted at specific plastic regions. New experiments reveal that respectively 60%, 58% and 73% of the synthesized variants (175,688 in total) are neutral and exhibit execution traces that are different from the original.
Subject headings
- NATURVETENSKAP -- Data- och informationsvetenskap -- Programvaruteknik (hsv//swe)
- NATURAL SCIENCES -- Computer and Information Sciences -- Software Engineering (hsv//eng)
Keyword
- Neutral program variant
- Program transformation
- Java
- Code plasticity
Publication and Content Type
- ref (subject category)
- art (subject category)
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