scholarly journals Analysis and Transformation of Constrained Horn Clauses for Program Verification

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-69
Author(s):  
EMANUELE DE ANGELIS ◽  
FABIO FIORAVANTI ◽  
JOHN P. GALLAGHER ◽  
MANUEL V. HERMENEGILDO ◽  
ALBERTO PETTOROSSI ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Logic Programming ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Recent Work ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Program Verification ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Transformation Techniques ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Future Developments ◽  
Horn Clauses

Abstract This paper surveys recent work on applying analysis and transformation techniques that originate in the field of constraint logic programming (CLP) to the problem of verifying software systems. We present specialization-based techniques for translating verification problems for different programming languages, and in general software systems, into satisfiability problems for constrained Horn clauses (CHCs), a term that has become popular in the verification field to refer to CLP programs. Then, we describe static analysis techniques for CHCs that may be used for inferring relevant program properties, such as loop invariants. We also give an overview of some transformation techniques based on specialization and fold/unfold rules, which are useful for improving the effectiveness of CHC satisfiability tools. Finally, we discuss future developments in applying these techniques.

A Survey of Parametric Static Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 54 (7) ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Jihyeok Park ◽  
Hongki Lee ◽  
Sukyoung Ryu
Keyword(s):  
Recent Work ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Abstract Interpretation ◽  
Black Box ◽  
Parameter Selection ◽  
Survey Analysis ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Analysis Quality

Understanding program behaviors is important to verify program properties or to optimize programs. Static analysis is a widely used technique to approximate program behaviors via abstract interpretation. To evaluate the quality of static analysis, researchers have used three metrics: performance, precision, and soundness. The static analysis quality depends on the analysis techniques used, but the best combination of such techniques may be different for different programs. To find the best combination of analysis techniques for specific programs, recent work has proposed parametric static analysis . It considers static analysis as black-box parameterized by analysis parameters , which are techniques that may be configured without analysis details. We formally define the parametric static analysis, and we survey analysis parameters and their parameter selection in the literature. We also discuss open challenges and future directions of the parametric static analysis.

scholarly journals Detecting Uninitialized Variables in C++ with the Clang Static Analyzer

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristóf Umann ◽  
Zoltán Porkoláb
Keyword(s):  
Software Engineering ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Common Source ◽  
Initial Value ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Specific Variable ◽  
Prototype Tool ◽  
Run Time

Uninitialized variables have been a source of errors since the beginning of software engineering. Some programming languages (e.g. Java and Python) will automatically zero-initialize such variables, but others, like C and C++, leave their state undefined. While laying aside initialization in C and C++ might be a performance advantage if an initial value can't be supplied, working with such variables is an undefined behavior, and is a common source of instabilities and crashes. To avoid such errors, whenever meaningful initialization is possible, it should be used. Tools for detecting these errors run time have existed for decades, but those require the problematic code to be executed. Since in many cases the number of possible execution paths are combinatoric, static analysis techniques emerged as an alternative. In this paper, we overview the technique for detecting uninitialized C++ variables using the Clang Static Analyzer, and describe various heuristics to guess whether a specific variable was left in an undefined state intentionally. We implemented a prototype tool based on our idea and successfully tested it on large open source projects.

An overview of declarative process modelling using logic programming

1996 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 303-316
Author(s):  
Paolo Ciancarini
Keyword(s):  
Logic Programming ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Development Process ◽  
Software Process ◽  
Process Modelling ◽  
Software Systems ◽  
Programming Environments ◽  
Rule Based ◽  
Coordination Language ◽  
Geographically Distributed

AbstractSoftware process modelling is the activity of formalising the production lifecycle of large software systems. Its aim is to formally describe a software development process, which is then effectively used and possibly enacted by an environment able to support the geographically distributed and coordinated activities involved in the process itself. I show that rule-based languages, especially logic programming languages, are an important technology for the specification, modelling, enactment and coordination of software processes. This is because most routine activities in any development process can be defined by rules. Some initial proposals aimed at simply simulating the software process by a Prolog-like program embedding some development rules. A further step toward the integration of rule-based languages in the software process has been taken using a dynamic knowledge base as project database, and a number of special primitives have been introduced to support process programs. Currently there is a trend toward more complex programming environments, called process-centred development environments. I show how some rule-based coordination language have been used to build an environment of this kind.

scholarly journals Human-Centered Approach to Static-Analysis-Driven Developer Tools

Queue ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 68-95
Author(s):  
Ayman Nadeem
Keyword(s):  
Programming Languages ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Abstract Thinking ◽  
Program Behavior ◽  
Structure Information ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
Developer Tools

Complex and opaque systems do not scale easily. A human-centered approach for evolving tools and practices is essential to ensuring that software is scaled safely and securely. Static analysis can unveil information about program behavior, but the goal of deriving this information should not be to accumulate hairsplitting detail. HCI can help direct static-analysis techniques into developer-facing systems that structure information and embody relationships in representations that closely mirror a programmer's thought. The survival of great software depends on programming languages that support, rather than inhibit, communicating, reasoning, and abstract thinking.

Objects in concurrent logic programming languages

1986 ◽  
Vol 21 (11) ◽  
pp. 242-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Kahn ◽  
Eric Dean Tribble ◽  
Mark S. Miller ◽  
Daniel G. Bobrow
Keyword(s):  
Logic Programming ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Concurrent Logic Programming ◽  
Logic Programming Languages

scholarly journals Investigation of Data Dependencies by Dynamic Analysis of Sapfor

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 473-493
Author(s):  
Nikita Andreevich Kataev ◽  
Alexander Andreevich Smirnov ◽  
Andrey Dmitrievich Zhukov
Keyword(s):  
Dynamic Analysis ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Static Analysis ◽  
Automatic Parallelization ◽  
Parallel Execution ◽  
Control Flow ◽  
Analysis Tool ◽  
Data Dependencies ◽  
Program Parallelization ◽  
Memory Accesses

The use of pointers and indirect memory accesses in the program, as well as the complex control flow are some of the main weaknesses of the static analysis of programs. The program properties investigated by this analysis are too conservative to accurately describe program behavior and hence they prevent parallel execution of the program. The application of dynamic analysis allows us to expand the capabilities of semi-automatic parallelization. In the SAPFOR system (System FOR Automated Parallelization), a dynamic analysis tool has been implemented, based on on the instrumentation of the LLVM representation of an analyzed program, which allows the system to explore programs in both C and Fortran programming languages. The capabilities of the static analysis implemented in SAPFOR are used to reduce the overhead program execution, while maintaining the completeness of the analysis. The use of static analysis allows to reduce the number of analyzed memory accesses and to ignore scalar variables, which can be explored in a static way. The developed tool was tested on performance tests from the NAS Parallel Benchmarks package for C and Fortran languages. The implementation of dynamic analysis, in addition to traditional types of data dependencies (flow, anit, output), allows us to determine privitizable variables and a possibility of pipeline execution of loops. Together with the capabilities of DVM and OpenMP these greatly facilitates program parallelization and simplify insertion of the appropriate compiler directives.

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