Editing source code

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9823902-B2
Application number	US-201213560267-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2012
Priority date	Jan 17, 2007
Publication date	Nov 21, 2017
Grant date	Nov 21, 2017

Abstract

A method for editing source code includes receiving a modification to the source code made by a user, determining whether the modification would change the semantics of the source code, and handling the modification depending on the result of the determining.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for editing source code, comprising:
receiving a modification to the source code;
determining whether or not the modification would change semantics of the source code; and
accepting or rejecting the modification based upon the determining, wherein
a change in semantics of the source code is a change in how the source code operates during runtime.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the determining includes:
compiling the source code, as unmodified, to produce first object code;
compiling the source code, as modified with the modification, to produce second object code; and
comparing the first object code to the second object code.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising
comparing the modification to a list of modifications, wherein
the list includes
modifications that do not change the semantics of the source code and/or
modifications that do change the semantics of the source code, and

the accepting or rejecting the modification is based upon the comparing.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising
determining whether the modification pertains to a portion of the source code in which changes to the source code are not permitted; and
the accepting or rejection the modification is based upon the portion of the source code to which the modification pertains.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising
ignoring, during the accepting or rejecting, syntactically invalid intermediate states of the modification.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the modification to the source code that does not change the semantics of the source code includes:
changing an indentation of the source code,
adding blank lines to the source code,
change a name of a variable within the source code, and
changing a comment within a comment line.

7. A computer hardware system configured to edit source code, comprising:
a processor, wherein the processor is configured to initiate and/or perform:
receiving a modification to the source code;
determining whether or not the modification would change semantics of the source code; and
accepting or rejecting the modification based upon the determining, wherein

a change in semantics of the source code is a change in how the source code operates during runtime.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein
the determining includes:
compiling the source code, as unmodified, to produce first object code;
compiling the source code, as modified with the modification, to produce second object code; and
comparing the first object code to the second object code.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to initiate and/or perform:
comparing the modification to a list of modifications, wherein
the list includes
modifications that do not change the semantics of the source code and/or
modifications that do change the semantics of the source code, and

the accepting or rejecting the modification is based upon the comparing.

10. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to initiate and/or perform:
determining whether the modification pertains to a portion of the source code in which changes to the source code are not permitted; and
the accepting or rejection the modification is based upon the portion of the source code to which the modification pertains.

11. The system of claim 7 , wherein the processor is further configured to initiate and/or perform:
ignoring, during the accepting or rejecting, syntactically invalid intermediate states of the modification.

12. The system of claim 7 , wherein
the modification to the source code that does not change the semantics of the source code includes:
changing an indentation of the source code,
adding blank lines to the source code,
change a name of a variable within the source code, and
changing a comment within a comment line.

13. A computer program product, comprising:
a computer usable storage device having stored therein computer usable program instructions for editing source code, wherein
the computer usable program instructions, which when executed on a computer hardware system, cause the computer hardware system to perform:
receiving a modification to the source code;
determining whether or not the modification would change semantics of the source code; and

accepting or rejecting the modification based upon the determining, wherein
a change in semantics of the source code is a change in how the source code operates during runtime, and
the computer usable storage device is not a transitory, propagating signal per se.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the determining includes:
compiling the source code, as unmodified, to produce first object code;
compiling the source code, as modified with the modification, to produce second object code; and
comparing the first object code to the second object code.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the computer usable program instructions further causes the computer hardware system to perform:
comparing the modification to a list of modifications, wherein
the list includes
modifications that do not change the semantics of the source code and/or
modifications that do change the semantics of the source code, and

the accepting or rejecting the modification is based upon the comparing.

16. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the computer usable program instructions further causes the computer hardware system to perform:
determining whether the modification pertains to a portion of the source code in which changes to the source code are not permitted; and
the accepting or rejection the modification is based upon the portion of the source code to which the modification pertains.

17. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the computer usable program instructions further causes the computer hardware system to perform:
ignoring syntactically, during the accepting or rejecting, invalid intermediate states of the modification.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the modification to the source code that does not change the semantics of the source code includes:
changing an indentation of the source code,
adding blank lines to the source code,
change a name of a variable within the source code, and
changing a comment within a comment line.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein
the accepting or rejecting involves
accepting the modification based upon the modification not changing the semantics of the source code, or
rejecting the modification based upon the modification changing the semantics of the source code.

20. The system of claim 7 , wherein the accepting or rejecting involves
accepting the modification based upon the modification not changing the semantics of the source code, or
rejecting the modification based upon the modification changing the semantics of the source code.

Assignees

• Arning Andreas
• Schwenkreis Friedemann
• IBM

Inventors

• Arning Andreas
• Schwenkreis Friedemann

Classifications

• G06F8/33 Primary

  Intelligent editors · CPC title

• G06F8/20

  Software design · CPC title