Parallel changes: detecting semantic interferences

Abstract

Parallel changes are a basic fact of modern software development. Where previously we looked at prima facie interference, here we investigate a less direct form that we call semantic interference. We reduce the forms of semantic interference that we are interested in to overlapping defuse pairs. Using program slicing and data flow analysis, we present algorithms for detecting semantic interference for both concurrent changes (allowed in optimistic version management systems) and sequential parallel changes (supported in pessimistic version management systems), and for changes that are both immediate and distant in time. We provide these algorithms for changes that are additions, showing that interference caused by deletions can be detected by considering the two sets of changes in reverse-time order.