just out of curiosity (definitely not because i have a deadline tonight lol) how does a plagiarism detecting software work? any ideas?
i'm pretty sure the program compares run time...
for example if i create an array in main
main(){
//create array and add numbers
}then in the plagiarised code:
main(){
//create a vector and add number
}this way you copy the logic but code will be different. i was just wondering if this works?
and yeah i have a project due tonight!
I've neither written nor worked with such software, but I imagine it works something like a spam blocker by looking for fuzzy patterns or by comparing patterns from trusted code.
I'd personally trust my eye more than plagiarism software. When you've been reading code for long enough, you can easily tell differences in style.
Oh, and to answer your question, yes, keeping the logic is a fantastic way of failing a plagiarism test because a programmer's choice of constructs and structure are so unique. For example, I can nail it every time if you take my code and change around everything except the logic, because the underlying style remains.
If copy protection also falls under 'plagiarism detection' then you could do the following:
-> Check the MAC-address of the computer and compare it with a list of MAC-addresses in an online database ...
(This is already a very good protection ...)
If plagiarism detection only:
-> You could maybe make use of checksums to verify the program before launching it actually ...
Hope this helps !
P.S.: Sorry if my English is bad ...
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