Splitting Commits via Past Code Changes

It is generally said that we should not perform code changes formultiple tasks in a single commit. Such code changes are called tangledones. Committing tangled changes is harmful to developers. Forexample, it is costly to merge a part of tangled changes with othercommits. Moreover, the presence of such tangled changes hindersanalyzing code repositories. That is because most of the miningsoftware repository approaches are designed under the assumption thatevery commit includes only changes for a single task. In this paper, wepropose a technique which informs developers that they are about tocommit tangled changes. The technique also suggests how to split agiven commit into multiple commits by using past code changes. Theproposed technique allows developers to determine whether they acceptthe suggestion or commit as it stands. By providing such support todevelopers, they can avoid committing tangled changes.