DiffDetective | Paul Bittner

DiffDetective is our Java library for variability-aware source code differencing: It helps in understanding how a change (e.g., a commit) to a code base with static variability, such as C preprocessor annotations, has changed. Therefore, the library parses a generic diff - such as the text-based diff in the image above - into a variability-aware data-structure, where changes to variability annotations are distinguished from changes to source code. To get an overview of variability-aware differencing and what our library has to offer, please check out our demonstrations paper (Bittner et al., 2024) as well as our Github repository:

We used DiffDetective as a framework for empirical evaluations in multiple studies (Bittner et al., 2023), (Güthing et al., 2024), (Bittner et al., 2022).

References

2024

FSE Demonstrations

Variability-Aware Differencing with DiffDetective

Paul Maximilian Bittner, Alexander Schultheiß, Benjamin Moosherr, Timo Kehrer, and Thomas Thüm

In Companion Proc. Int’l Conference on the Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE Companion), Porto de Galinhas, Brazil, Jul 2024

Best Demonstrations Paper DOI Bib PDF Video Code Slides

@inproceedings{BSM+:FSE24Companion,
  title = {{Variability-Aware Differencing with DiffDetective}},
  author = {Bittner, Paul Maximilian and Schulthei\ss{}, Alexander and Moosherr, Benjamin and Kehrer, Timo and Th{\"{u}}m, Thomas},
  booktitle = {Companion Proc.\ Int'l Conference on the Foundations of Software Engineering (FSE Companion)},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  year = {2024},
  month = jul,
  location = {Porto de Galinhas, Brazil},
  numpages = {5},
  pages = {632--636},
  keywords = {software evolution, software product lines, software variability},
  doi = {10.1145/3663529.3663813},
  isbn = {9798400706585},
  publisher = {ACM},
}

VaMoS

Explaining Edits to Variability Annotations in Evolving Software Product Lines

Lukas Güthing, Paul Maximilian Bittner, Ina Schaefer, and Thomas Thüm

In Proc. Int’l Working Conf. on Variability Modelling of Software-Intensive Systems (VaMoS), Bern, Switzerland, Feb 2024

DOI Bib PDF Code Slides

@inproceedings{GBST:VaMoS24,
  title = {{Explaining Edits to Variability Annotations in Evolving Software Product Lines}},
  author = {G{\"u}thing, Lukas and Bittner, Paul Maximilian and Schaefer, Ina and Th{\"um}, Thomas},
  booktitle = {Proc.\ Int'l Working Conf.\ on Variability Modelling of Software-Intensive Systems (VaMoS)},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  year = {2024},
  month = feb,
  location = {Bern, Switzerland},
  numpages = {10},
  pages = {93--102},
  keywords = {software evolution, software product lines, software variability},
  doi = {10.1145/3634713.3634725},
  publisher = {ACM},
}

2023

SPLC

Views on Edits to Variational Software

Paul Maximilian Bittner, Alexander Schultheiß, Sandra Greiner, Benjamin Moosherr, Sebastian Krieter, Christof Tinnes, Timo Kehrer, and Thomas Thüm

In Proc. Int’l Systems and Software Product Line Conf. (SPLC), Tokyo, Japan, Aug 2023

DOI Bib PDF Code Slides

@inproceedings{BSG+:SPLC23,
  title = {{Views on Edits to Variational Software}},
  author = {Bittner, Paul Maximilian and Schulthei\ss{}, Alexander and Greiner, Sandra and Moosherr, Benjamin and Krieter, Sebastian and Tinnes, Christof and Kehrer, Timo and Th\"{u}m, Thomas},
  booktitle = {Proc.\ Int'l Systems and Software Product Line Conf.\ (SPLC)},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  year = {2023},
  month = aug,
  location = {Tokyo, Japan},
  pages = {141--152},
  keywords = {variation control, software product lines, software variability, projectional editing, software evolution},
  doi = {10.1145/3579027.3608985},
  isbn = {9798400700910},
  publisher = {ACM},
}

2022

ESEC/FSE

Classifying Edits to Variability in Source Code

Paul Maximilian Bittner, Christof Tinnes, Alexander Schultheiß, Sören Viegener, Timo Kehrer, and Thomas Thüm

In Proc. Europ. Software Engineering Conf./Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE), Singapore, Nov 2022

DOI Bib PDF Video Code Slides

@inproceedings{BTS+:ESECFSE22,
  title = {{Classifying Edits to Variability in Source Code}},
  author = {Bittner, Paul Maximilian and Tinnes, Christof and Schulthei\ss{}, Alexander and Viegener, S{\"{o}}ren and Kehrer, Timo and Th{\"{u}}m, Thomas},
  booktitle = {Proc.\ Europ.\ Software Engineering Conf./Foundations of Software Engineering (ESEC/FSE)},
  address = {New York, NY, USA},
  year = {2022},
  month = nov,
  location = {Singapore},
  numpages = {13},
  pages = {196--208},
  keywords = {software evolution, software variability, feature traceability, software product lines, mining version histories},
  doi = {10.1145/3540250.3549108},
  isbn = {9781450394130},
  publisher = {ACM},
}