Using Machine Learning and Information Retrieval Techniques to Improve Software Maintainability

In this paper, we investigate some ideas based on Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Information Retrieval to outline possible research directions in the field of software architecture recovery and clone detection. In particular, after presenting an extensive related work, we illustrate two proposals for addressing these two issues, that represent hot topics in the field of Software Maintenance. Both proposals use Kernel Methods for exploiting structural representation of source code and to automate the detection of clones and the recovery of the actually implemented architecture in a subject software system.

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