PatchNet: A tool for deep patch classification

• Main Authors: HOANG, Thong, LAWALL, Julia, OENTARYO, Richard J., TIAN, Yuan, LO, David
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Deep learning; Patch classification; Stable patch identification; Software Engineering
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/sis_research/4527; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/sis_research/article/5530/viewcontent/PatchNet_Tool_2019_isce_av.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

This work proposes PatchNet, an automated tool based on hierarchical deep learning for classifying patches by extracting features from commit messages and code changes. PatchNet contains a deep hierarchical structure that mirrors the hierarchical and sequential structure of a code change, differentiating it from the existing deep learning models on source code. PatchNet provides several options allowing users to select parameters for the training process. The tool has been validated in the context of automatic identification of stable-relevant patches in the Linux kernel and is potentially applicable to automate other software engineering tasks that can be formulated as patch classification problems. Our video demonstrating PatchNet and PatchNet implementation are publicly available at https://goo.gl/CZjG6X and https://github.com/hvdthong/PatchNetTool respectively.