Quo vadis, clone management?

Abstract

Although potential benefits are frequently mentioned in the literature, empirical evidence is missing to concretize the costs and benefits of clone management. Without precise estimation of the expected gain, clone management will hardly ever become a self-evident part of serious software development, as for example version control systems are. A study on clones in our own code showed a complex relationship between costs and benefits, which, in addition, differs between individual clones. We conclude that empirical evidence, that adheres the diversity of clones, is needed to support the adoption of clone management in practice.