Detecting Build Conflicts in Software Merge for Java Programs via Static Analysis

Sheikh Shadab Towqir, Bowen Shen, Muhammad Ali Gulzar, Na Meng

Abstract

In software merge, the edits from different branches can textually overlap (i.e., textual conflicts) or cause build and test errors (i.e., build and test conflicts), jeopardizing programmer productivity and software quality. Existing tools primarily focus on textual conflicts; few tools detect higher-order conflicts (i.e., build and test conflicts). However, existing detectors of build conflicts are limited. Due to their heavy usage of automatic build, current detectors (e.g., Crystal) only report build errors instead of identifying the root causes; developers have to manually locate conflicting edits. These detectors only help when the branches-to-merge have no textual conflict.

BibTeX

@inproceedings{Towqir-al:ASE22,
  author    = {Sheikh Shadab Towqir and
               Bowen Shen and
               Muhammad Ali Gulzar and
               Na Meng},
  title     = {Detecting Build Conflicts in Software Merge for Java Programs via Static Analysis},
  booktitle = {ASE},
  pages     = {33:1--33:13},
  publisher = {{ACM}},
  year      = {2022},
}

Detecting Build Conflicts in Software Merge for Java Programs via Static Analysis

Abstract

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