05261 Summary – Multi-Version Program Analysis

Abstract

Change is an inevitable part of successful software systems. Software changes
induce costs, as they force people to repeat earlier assessments. On the
other hand, knowing about software changes can also bring benefits, as
changes are artifacts that can be analyzed.
In the last years, researchers have begun to analyze software together with
its change history. There is a huge amount of historical information that
can be extracted, abstracted, and leveraged:
- Knowing about earlier versions and their properties can lead to incremental
assessments.
- Analyzing the history of a product can tell how changes in software
are related to other changes and features.
- Relating properties to changes can help focusing on changes that cause
specific properties.
In this Dagstuhl seminar, researchers that analyze software and its history
have met and discussed for a full week, exchanging their ideas, and combining
and integrating the techniques to build a greater whole. Clearly,
understanding history can play a major role when it comes to understand
software systems.