Expression data flow graph: precise flow-sensitive pointer analysis for C programs

• Author / Creator

  Thiessen, Rei

• Pointer analysis is a program analysis that determines the memory locations pointed to by individual pointers.
  Imprecise pointer information is a major impediment to data-flow analyses and back-end optimizations that depend on pointer information.

  Most pointer analyses are based on a points-to abstraction,
  which is an abstraction of memory that partitions the conceptually infinite number of memory locations into a finite number of abstract objects.
  In a flow-sensitive pointer-analysis, a points-to relationship between abstract objects is computed at each program point.

  Our pointer analysis is based on another abstraction called the Expression Data Flow graph,
  which expresses the memory dependencies between expressions that appear in a program.
  This abstraction represents pointer information in a more compact and more precise way than a points-to abstraction.

  We present a flow-sensitive and field-sensitive algorithm that computes a precise Expression Data Flow graph of a program in a negligible amount of time.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Flow-sensitive
  • Points-to analysis
  • Alias analysis
  • Pointer analysis
  • Program analysis

• Graduation date

  Fall 2011

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3NW5M

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.