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Measuring Whitespace Pattern Sequences as an Indication of Plagiarism
Zeidman Consulting, Cupertino, USA.
Zeidman Consulting, Cupertino, USA
- 1 Zeidman Consulting, Cupertino, USA.
- 2 Zeidman Consulting, Cupertino, USA
Journal of Software Engineering and Applications·Volume 05 (2012)·Pages 249–254·Published 23 April 2012·DOI10.4236/jsea.2012.54029
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Abstract
There are several methods and technologies for comparing the statements, comments, strings, identifiers, and other visible elements of source code in order to efficiently identify similarity. In a prior paper we found that comparing the whitespace patterns was not precise enough to identify copying by itself. However, several possible methods for improving the precision of a whitespace pattern comparison were presented, the most promising of which was an examination of the sequences of lines with matching whitespace patterns. This paper demonstrates a method of evaluating the sequences of matching whitespace patterns and a detailed study of the method’s reliability.
KeywordsPlagiarismSource CodeSource Code SimilarityWhitespaceObfuscationIndentationMaintainabilityCopyright InfringementIntellectual PropertyLitigationOpen Source
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