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Trends in applying abstract interpretation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 July 2009

Andrew Bowles
Andrew Bowles
Affiliation:
Department of Artificial Intelligence, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Abstract

Abstract interpretation is a principled approach to inferring properties of a program's execution by simulating that execution using an interpreter which computes over some abstraction of the program's usual, concrete domain, and which collects the information of interest during the execution. Abstract interpretation has been used as the basis of research in logic and functional programming, particularly in applications concerned with compiler optimizations. However, abstract interpretation has the potential to be used in other applications, such as debugging or verification of programs. In this paper we review the use of abstract interpretation to both compiler optimizations and to other applications, attempting to give a flavour of the kind of information it is possible to infer and some of the issues involved

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Knowledge Engineering Review , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , June 1992 , pp. 157 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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