Evaluation of Version Control Merge Tools

Benedikt Schesch, Ryan Featherman, Kenneth J. Yang, Ben R. Roberts, Michael D. Ernst

Abstract

A version control system, such as Git, requires a way to integrate changes from different developers or branches. Given a merge scenario, a merge tool either outputs a clean integration of the changes, or it outputs a conflict for manual resolution. A clean integration is correct if it preserves intended program behavior, and is incorrect otherwise (e.g., if it causes a test failure). Manual resolution consumes valuable developer time, and correcting a defect introduced by an incorrect merge is even more costly.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{Schesch-al:ASE24,
  author    = {Benedikt Schesch and
               Ryan Featherman and
               Kenneth J. Yang and
               Ben R. Roberts and
               Michael D. Ernst},
  title     = {Evaluation of Version Control Merge Tools},
  booktitle = {ASE},
  pages     = {831--83},
  publisher = {{ACM}},
  year      = {2024},
}

Evaluation of Version Control Merge Tools

Abstract

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