Copy and Paste Behavior: A Systematic Mapping Study

Both novice and experienced developers rely more and more in external sources of code to include into their programs by copying and pasting code snippets. This behavior differs from the traditional software design approach where cohesion was achieved via a conscious design effort. Due to this fact, it is essential to know how this copy and paste programming practices are actually carried out, so that IDEs and code recommenders can be designed to fit with developer expectations and habits. Our objective is to identify the role of copy and paste programming or code clone in current development practices. A Systematic Mapping Study (SMS) has been conducted, searching the main scientific databases. The search retrieved 1271 citations and 39 articles were retained as primary studies. The primary studies were categorized according to eight areas: General information of clone usage, developer behavior, techniques and tools for clone detection, techniques and tools for clone reuse, patterns of cloning, clone evolution, effects of code cloning in software maintenance and development, and tools for clone visualization. The areas, techniques and tools of clone detection and developer behavior are strongly represented in the sample. The areas that have been least studied in the literature found in the SMS are tools of clone visualization and patterns of cloning. Keywords— Copy and Paste; Systematic Mapping Study

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