The award went to a 2008 paper that deals with so-called clones in Matlab/Simulink models. These are duplicates created by copy-and-paste that can later lead to errors that are difficult to detect.
“The fact that our work has succeeded in bridging the gap between research and industrial application is a wonderful validation,” says Wagner. He is particularly pleased that the research at the time brought to light a topic that, while relevant in practice, had hardly been studied scientifically.
Risks of Copy-and-Paste
Copy-and-paste is part of everyday life in software development. According to Wagner, one of the problems arises when changes are not applied consistently across all copies. As a result, errors are often discovered only late in the process.
The award-winning paper demonstrated for the first time, in a systematic way, how widespread such clones are even in graphical development models. These models are used, among other things, in the automotive industry to develop safety-critical software for control units.
The graph-theoretical approach to clone detection developed in the paper continues to influence research to this day. Model-based development also plays an important role in aerospace and other safety-critical fields, according to Wagner. Consequently, the need for methods to ensure the quality of such models remains high.
We extend our heartfelt congratulations on this exceptional award and look forward to the further insights that will emerge from Prof. Wagner’s work.