Program element matching for multi-version program analyses

Multi-version program analyses require that elements of one version of a program be mapped to the elements of other versions of that program. Matching program elements between two versions of a program is a fundamental building block for multi-version program analyses and other software evolution research such as profile propagation, regression testing, and software version merging.In this paper, we survey matching techniques that can be used for multi-version program analyses and evaluate them based on hypothetical change scenarios. This paper also lists challenges of the matching problem, identifies open problems, and proposes future directions.