Work

An analysis of the search spaces for generate and validate patch generation systems

Year: 2016

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: We present the first systematic analysis of key characteristics of patch search spaces for automatic patch generation systems. We analyze sixteen different configurations of the patch search spaces of SPR and Prophet, two current state-of-the-art patch generation systems. The analysis shows that 1) correct patches are sparse in the search spaces (typically at most one correct patch per search space per defect), 2) incorrect patches that nevertheless pass all of the test cases in the validation test suite are typically orders of magnitude more abundant, and 3) leveraging information other than the test suite is therefore critical for enabling the system to successfully isolate correct patches.

Source: ACM/IEEE International Conference on Software Engineering: Companion Proceedings (ICSE-Companion)

DOI: 10.1145/2884781.2884872

Authors: Fan Long, Martin Rinard

Institutions: MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Software Testing and Debugging Techniques

Subfield: Software

Field: Computer Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funder: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency

Awards: G2407417226, G4713059963, G4716320667