Measuring Whitespace Patterns as an Indication of Plagiarism

There are several different methods of comparing source code from different programs to find copying. Perhaps the most common method is comparing source code statements, comments, strings, identifiers, and instruction sequences. However, there are anecdotes about the use of whitespace patterns in co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inProceedings of the Conference on Digital Forensics, Security and Law p. 63
Main Authors Shay, Ilana, Baer, Nikolaus, Zeidman, Robert
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Maidens Association of Digital Forensics, Security and Law 01.01.2010
Subjects
Algorithms
Investigations
Methods
Standard deviation
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Summary:There are several different methods of comparing source code from different programs to find copying. Perhaps the most common method is comparing source code statements, comments, strings, identifiers, and instruction sequences. However, there are anecdotes about the use of whitespace patterns in code. These virtually invisible patterns of spaces and tabs have been used in litigation to imply copying, but no formal study has been performed that shows that these patterns can actually identify copied code. This paper presents a detailed study of whitespace patterns and the uniqueness of these patterns in different programs. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:1931-7379
1931-7387