Measuring multi-language software evolution: a case study

ABSTRACT

Characterising and measuring software developed in multiple languages is a problem for practitioners. Rather than a language-based approach, we avoid difficulties related to syntax, semantics and language paradigms by looking directly at relative shared information content to perform these tasks. Measuring, for each language, the relative number of bits of shared binary information between artefacts representative of consecutive releases of the project using a common tool permits the direct comparison of evolution results for the multiple languages. This paper presents a case study of the program suite called git, written in C, perl and Bourne shell. The study uses this method to show that, for git, code in scripting languages does not prototype later C, Bourne shell and C code are written together and that the languages' code contributions occur concurrently.

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Index Terms

• Computing methodologies

  • Modeling and simulation

    • Simulation theory

      • Systems theory

• General and reference

  • Cross-computing tools and techniques

    • Performance

• Mathematics of computing

  • Information theory

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Management of computing and information systems

      • Software management

        • Software maintenance

        • Software selection and adaptation

• Software and its engineering

  • Software creation and management

    • Software post-development issues

    • Software verification and validation

      • Empirical software validation

  • Software organization and properties

    • Extra-functional properties

      • Software performance

    • Software functional properties

      • Formal methods