Stack-Summarizing Control-Flow Analysis of Higher-Order Programs

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel combined analysis method for higher-order programs that uses stack summaries to integrate abstract garbage collection with context-free analysis, improving precision in control-flow analysis.

Contribution

It presents the first direct product approach combining abstract garbage collection with context-free analysis using stack summaries to handle the stack visibility challenge.

Findings

Enhanced analysis precision for higher-order programs

Effective integration of garbage collection with control-flow analysis

Potential for improved static analysis tools

Abstract

Two sinks drain precision from higher-order flow analyses: (1) merging of argument values upon procedure call and (2) merging of return values upon procedure return. To combat the loss of precision, these two sinks have been addressed independently. In the case of procedure calls, abstract garbage collection reduces argument merging; while in the case of procedure returns, context-free approaches eliminate return value merging. It is natural to expect a combined analysis could enjoy the mutually beneficial interaction between the two approaches. The central contribution of this work is a direct product of abstract garbage collection with context-free analysis. The central challenge to overcome is the conflict between the core constraint of a pushdown system and the needs of garbage collection: a pushdown system can only see the top of the stack, yet garbage collection needs to see the entire stack during a collection. To make the direct product computable, we develop "stack summaries," a method for tracking stack properties at each control state in a pushdown analysis of higher-order programs.