Comparison with Other Tools

Comparison with Other Tools

Overview

Tool	Scope	Algorithm	Clone Types	Output
PyChase	Functions, methods, classes	MinHash+LSH, Jaccard	Type-1,2,3	Text, JSON, CSV, HTML
dry4python	Functions only	Brute-force, Jaccard	Type-2 only	Text, JSON
PMD CPD	Cross-language	Karp-Rabin	Type-1,2	Text, XML, CSV
jscpd	Cross-language (150+)	Token-based	Type-1,2	Text, JSON, HTML
SonarQube	Cross-language	Custom AST matching	Type-1,2	Web dashboard
Duplo	Lines only	Hash-based	Type-1	Text
Simian	Lines/tokens	Hash-based	Type-1,2	Text, XML

vs dry4python

Dimension	dry4python	PyChase
Scope	Functions only	Functions, methods, classes
Algorithm	O(n²) brute-force	O(n) MinHash + LSH
Clone Types	Type-2 only	Type-1, Type-2, Type-3
Output	Text, JSON	Text, JSON, CSV, HTML
AST Coverage	Basic	Full 3.10+ (match, async)
Setup	Zero deps	Zero deps

vs jscpd

Dimension	jscpd	PyChase
Analysis	Token-based (shallow)	AST-based (structural)
Python Support	Generic tokenizer	Dedicated Python AST parser
Install	Requires Node.js	pip install pychase
Structural Similarity	❌	✅ Normalized AST
Clone Grouping	Unstructured	Connected-component clusters

vs SonarQube

Dimension	SonarQube	PyChase
Setup	Database + server + scanner	pip install pychase
Clone Detection	Basic heuristic	AST structural fingerprints
False Positive Control	Limited	Threshold + min-lines + min-nodes
Portability	Tied to server	Standalone CLI, any CI
Speed	Minutes (full pipeline)	Milliseconds

Why PyChase?

• ✅ Python AST-level structural analysis — not tokens, not lines
• ✅ MinHash + LSH — near-linear scaling to 100k+ units
• ✅ Three clone types — exact (Type-1), renamed (Type-2), modified (Type-3)
• ✅ Multi-granularity — functions + methods + classes
• ✅ Interactive HTML reports — collapsible groups, code previews
• ✅ Zero external dependencies — no JVM, no Node, no database
• ✅ Python-first — built specifically for Python AST