Modular interprocedural pointer analysis using access paths: Design, implementation, and evaluation

In this paper we present a modular interprocedural pointer analysis algorithm based on access-paths for C programs. We argue that access paths can reduce the overhead of representing context-sensitive transfer functions and effectively distinguish non-recursive heap objects. And when the modular analysis paradigm is used together with other techniques to handle type casts and function pointers, we are able: to handle significant programs like those in the SPECcint92 and SPECcint95 suites. We have implemented the algorithm and tested it on a Pentium II 450 PC running Linux. The observed resource consumption and performance improvement are very encouraging.