Semantic Solutions to Program Analysis Problems

TL;DR

This paper advocates for a semantics-first approach to program analysis, arguing that focusing on semantics rather than abstractions simplifies the process and enables more advanced analyses.

Contribution

It introduces a novel semantics-based methodology that overcomes the complexity of traditional abstraction-focused methods in higher-order program analysis.

Findings

Semantics-focused approach simplifies analysis design.

Enables development of analyses beyond current state of the art.

Challenges the traditional emphasis on abstraction in program analysis.

Abstract

Problems in program analysis can be solved by developing novel program semantics and deriving abstractions conventionally. For over thirty years, higher-order program analysis has been sold as a hard problem. Its solutions have required ingenuity and complex models of approximation. We claim that this difficulty is due to premature focus on abstraction and propose a new approach that emphasizes semantics. Its simplicity enables new analyses that are beyond the current state of the art.