Related papers: Execution traces and reduction sequences
We introduce a denotational semantic framework for shared-memory concurrent programs in a C11-style memory model. This denotational approach is an alternative to techniques based on "execution graphs" and axiomatizations, and it allows for…
We describe a derivational approach to abstract interpretation that yields novel and transparently sound static analyses when applied to well-established abstract machines for higher-order and imperative programming languages. To…
In this paper, we describe an approach that enables an autonomous system to infer the semantics of a command (i.e. a symbol sequence representing an action) in terms of the relations between changes in the observations and the action…
Completion is one of the most studied techniques in term rewriting and fundamental to automated reasoning with equalities. In this paper we present new correctness proofs of abstract completion, both for finite and infinite runs. For the…
We present a new approach to automated reasoning about higher-order programs by extending symbolic execution to use behavioral contracts as symbolic values, enabling symbolic approximation of higher-order behavior. Our approach is based on…
Game semantics is a trace-like denotational semantics for programming languages where the notion of legal observable behaviour of a term is defined combinatorially, by means of rules of a game between the term (the "Proponent") and its…
Analyzing the behavior of a program running on a processor that supports speculative execution is crucial for applications such as execution time estimation and side channel detection. Unfortunately, existing static analysis techniques…
This paper describes a methodology for defining an executable abstract interpreter from a formal description of the semantics of a programming language. Our approach is based on Skeletal Semantics and an abstract interpretation of its…
We introduce a new formulation of the axiom of dependent choice that can be viewed as an abstract termination principle, which generalises the recursive path orderings used to establish termination of rewrite systems. We consider several…
Reasoning about correctness and security of software is increasingly difficult due to the complexity of modern microarchitectural features such as out-of-order execution. A class of security vulnerabilities termed Spectre that exploits side…
In this paper we consider a general system of activities that can, but do not have to, occur. This system is governed by a set containing two types of constraints: precedence and response. A precedence constraint dictates that an activity…
In the present paper we formally define the notion of abstract program slicing, a general form of program slicing where properties of data are considered instead of their exact value. This approach is applied to a language with numeric and…
Symbolic execution is a powerful program analysis technique that allows for the systematic exploration of all program paths. Path explosion, where the number of states to track becomes unwieldy, is one of the biggest challenges hindering…
We design a family of program analyses for JavaScript that make no approximation in matching calls with returns, exceptions with handlers, and breaks with labels. We do so by starting from an established reduction semantics for JavaScript…
The behavior and architecture of large scale discrete state systems found in computer software and hardware can be specified and analyzed using a particular class of primitive recursive functions. This paper begins with an illustration of…
This paper introduces a new algorithm for the induction if complex finite state automata from samples of behavior. The algorithm is based on information theoretic principles. The algorithm reduces the search space by many orders of…
This paper proposes a new view to algorithms, Algorithms as defining dynamic systems. This view extends the traditional, deterministic view that an algorithm is a step by step procedure with nondeterminism. As a dynamic system can be…
The focus of these lecture notes is on abstract models and basic ideas and results that relate to the operational semantics of programming languages largely conceived. The approach is to start with an abstract description of the computation…
Monitoring and analyzing process traces is a critical task for modern companies and organizations. In scenarios where there is a gap between trace events and reference business activities, this entails an interpretation problem, amounting…
Static program analysis is a valuable tool for any programming language that people write programs in. The prevalence of scripting languages in the world suggests programming language interpreters are relatively easy to write. Users of…