Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Static Analysis: A Survey of Techniques and Tools

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Intelligent Computing and Applications

Part of the book series: Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing ((AISC,volume 343))

Abstract

Static program analysis has shown tremendous surge from basic compiler optimization technique to becoming a major role player in correctness and verification of software. Because of its rich theoretical background, static analysis is in a good position to help produce quality software. This paper provides an overview of the existing static analysis techniques and tools. Further, it gives a critique of static analysis approach over six attributes, namely precision, efficiency, coverage, modularity, scalability, and automation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 169.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 219.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Aho, A., Sethi, R., Ullman, J.: Compilers: Principles, Techniques, Tools. Addison Wesley, Boston (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  2. Nielson, F., Nielson, H.R., Hankin, C.: Principles of Program Analysis. 1st edn, p. 452, Springer, Berlin. (1996) ISBN: 978-3-540-65410-0

    Google Scholar 

  3. Kirkov, R., Agre, G.: Source Code Analysis: An Overview. Cybernetics and Information Technologies, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Ball, T.: The concept of dynamic analysis. In: Proceedings of 7th ACM/SIGSOFT Conference on Foundations of Software Engineering (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Binkley, D.: Source Code Analysis: A Road Map. Future of Software Engineering, pp. 15–30. Minneapolis, USA, 23–25 May 2007

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ernst, M.D.: Static and dynamic analysis: synergy and duality. In: Proceedings of the 5th ACM Workshop on Program Analysis for Software Tools and Engineering (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gosain, A., Sharma, G.A.: Survey of dynamic program analysis techniques and tools. In: Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Frontiers in Intelligent Computing Theory and Applications, Bhubaneshwar, vol. 1, pp. 113–122 Nov (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  8. Bentonino, A.: Software testing research: achievements, challenges, dreams. Future Softw. Eng. (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Emaneulsson, P., Nilson, U.: A comparative study of industrial static analysis tools. Electron. Notes Theor. Comput. Sci. 217, 5–21 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  10. Brat, G., Venet, A.: Precise and scalable static program analysis of NASA flight software. In: IEEE Aerospace Conference, March (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Jackson, D., Rinard, M.: Software analysis: a road map. IEEE Trans. Softw. Eng. (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  12. D’Silva, V., Kroenig, D., Weissenbacher, G.: A survey of automated techniques for formal software verification. IEEE Trans. CAD (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  13. Cifuentus, C.: BegBunch—benchmarking for C bug detection tools. DEFECTS (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Pemdergrass, J.A., Lee, S.C., McDonnell, C.D.: Theory and practice of mechanized software. Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest, 32(2) 2013

    Google Scholar 

  15. Kildall, G.A.: A unified approach to global program optimization. POPL (1973)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Kam, J.B., Ullman, J.D.: Global data flow analysis and iterative algorithms. J. ACM 23(1), 158–171 (1976)

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  17. Kennedy, K.A.: Survey of data flow analysis techniques. In: Muchnick, S., Jones, N. (eds.) Program Flow Analysis: Theory and Applications, pp. 5–54. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bush, W.R., Pincus, J.D., Sielaff, D.J.: A static analyzer for finding dynamic programming errors. Softw. Pract. Experience 30(7), 775–802 (2000)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  19. GrammaTech Inc. Overview of grammatech static analysis technology. White paper (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  20. Hovemeyer, D., Pugh, W.: Finding bugs is easy. http://www.cs.umd.edu/Ëœpugh/java/bugs/docs/findbugsPaper.pdf (2003)

  21. Das, M., Lerner, S., Siegel, M.: ESP: path sensitive program verification in polynomial time. PLDI’02, Berlin (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Cousot, P., Cousot, R.: Abstract interpretation: a unified lattice model for static analysis of programs by construction or approximation of fixpoints. In Proceedings of 6th ACM Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages. California, pp. 238–252, (1977)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Jones, N.D., Nielson, F.: Abstract Interpretation: A Semantics Based Tools for Program Analysis. Handbook of Logics in Computer Science, vol. 14. Oxford University Press, Oxford (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Cousot, P.: Abstract Interpretation Based Formal Methods and Future Challenges. Lecture Notes in Computer Science#2000, pp. 138–156. Springer, Berlin (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Cousot, P., Cousot, R., Feret, J., Mine, A., Mauborgne, L., Monniaux, D., Rival, X.: Varieties of static analyzer: a comparison with astree. In: 1st Joint IEEE/IFIP Symposium on Theoretical Aspects of Software Engineering (TASE), June (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  26. Polyspace Verifier. http://www.polyspace.com

  27. Aiken, A.: Introduction to set constraint-based program analysis. Sci. Comput. Program. 35, 79–111 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Gulwani, S., Shrivastava, S., Venkatraman, R.: Program analysis as constraint solving. PLDI, June (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  29. King, J.C.: Symbolic execution and program testing. Commun. ACM 19(7), 385–394 (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  30. Floyd, R.: Assigning meanings to programs. In: Proceedings of Symposium on Applied Mathematics (1967)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Hoare, C.A.R.: An axiomatic basis for computer programming. Commun. ACM 12(10), 576–580 (1969)

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  32. Detlefs, D., Nelson, G., Saxe, J.B.: Simplify: a theorem prover for program checking. www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2003/HPL-2003-148.html‎

  33. Tiwari, A., Gulwani, S.: Logical interpretation: static program analysis using theorem proving. In: Proceedings of Conference on Automated Deduction (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Johnson, S.C.: Lint: A C program checker. Unix programmer’s manual, Computer Science Technical Report 65. AT & T Bell Laboratories (1978)

    Google Scholar 

  35. FlexeLint/PCLint. http://www.gimpel.com/html/lintinfo.htm

  36. Evans, D., Larochelle, D.: Improving security using extensible lightweight static analysis. IEEE Softw. 19, 42–51 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. JLint. http://artho.com/jlint

  38. Flanagan, C., Leino, K.R.M., Lillibridge, M., Nelson, G., Saxe, J.B., Stata, R.: Extended static checking for Java. In: Proceedings of ACM SIGPLAN Conference on Programming Language Design and Implementation, pp. 234–245 (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  39. PMD/Java. http://pmd.sourceforge.net

  40. Klocwork. Klocwork K7. http://www.klocwork.com

  41. Chelf, B., Chou, A.: Next generation of static analysis: Boolean satisfiability and path simulation-a perfect match. http://www.coverity.com/library/pdf/coverity_white_paper_SAT_next_Generation_Static_Analysis.pdf. Downloaded on Dec 2012

  42. Ami, T.L., Sagiv, M.: TVLA-a system for implementing static analyses. In: Static Analysis Symposium (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Foster, J.S.: Type qualifiers: lightweight specifications to improve software quality. Ph.D. thesis, UCB (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Aiken, A., F¨ahndrich, M., Foster, J., Su, Z.: A toolkit for constructing type- and constraint-based program analyses. In: Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Types in Compilation, LNCS #, vol. 1473, pp. 76–96, March (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Kodumal, J., Aiken, A.: Banshee: a scalable constraint- based analysis toolkit. In: Proceedings of the 12th International Static Analysis Symposium, pp. 218–234 (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  46. Ami, T.L., Reps, T., Sagiv, M., Wilhelm, R.: Putting static analysis to work for verification: a case study. ISSTA (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Cousot, P., Cousot, R.: Compositional separate modular static analysis of programs using abstract interpretation. In: Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Advances in Infrastructure for E-Business, E-Science, E-Education on the Internet (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Dillig, T.: A modular and symbolic approach to static program analysis. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University (2011)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USICT, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, New Delhi, 110078, India

    Anjana Gosain & Ganga Sharma

Authors
  1. Anjana Gosain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Ganga Sharma
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Anjana Gosain .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Electronics & Communication Engineering, NIT, Durgapur, Durgapur, West Bengal, India

    Durbadal Mandal

  2. Electronics & Communication Engineering, NIT, Durgapur, Durgapur, West Bengal, India

    Rajib Kar

  3. Machine Intelligence Unit, ISI, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Swagatam Das

  4. Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, New Delhi, India

    Bijaya Ketan Panigrahi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2015 Springer India

About this paper

Cite this paper

Gosain, A., Sharma, G. (2015). Static Analysis: A Survey of Techniques and Tools. In: Mandal, D., Kar, R., Das, S., Panigrahi, B. (eds) Intelligent Computing and Applications. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 343. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2268-2_59

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2268-2_59

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New Delhi

  • Print ISBN: 978-81-322-2267-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-81-322-2268-2

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation