Patent ID: 7810079

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for determining execution path differences, comprising: executing, using one or more processors, a software application a first time, wherein a first call tree is generated and stored, the first call tree including a first plurality of linked nodes describing a first execution path of the software application; executing, using the one or more processors, the software application a second time, wherein a second call tree is generated and stored, the second call tree including a second plurality of linked nodes describing a second execution path of the software application, wherein the first execution of the software application generates a first set of execution data, wherein the second execution of the software application generates a second set of execution data, and wherein the first and second sets of execution data include data indicating how many times each node in the call trees was called be its parent nodes; comparing, using the one or more processors, the first and second call trees, wherein comparing includes identifying and storing any differences between the first and second execution paths; analyzing, using the one or more processors, each difference between the first and second execution paths, wherein analyzing includes identifying and associating at least one parent node as the root cause of each difference, and wherein analyzing includes identifying a parent node in which there is a difference in the number of times that the parent node calls its child nodes, and in which there is no difference in the number of times that the parent node is called by its parent node; and using the parent nodes associated with the differences to generate, using the one or more processors, one or more root node trees, wherein a root node tree is generated for each parent node identified as a root cause, and wherein a visual depiction of a root node tree identifies nodes associated with the differences between the first and second execution paths.