A large-scale empirical study of forward and backward static slice size and context sensitivity

Abstract

A large-scale study of 43 C programs totaling just over 1 million lines of code is presented. The study includes the forward and backward static slice on every executable statement. In total 2353598 slices were constructed, with an average slice size being just under 30% of the original program. The results also show that ignoring calling-context led to a 50% increase in average slice size and, in contrast to previous results, a 66-77% increase in computation time (due to the increased size). Though not the principal focus of the study, the results also show an average pace for the slicing engine, on a standard PC, of 3 million lines of code per second thereby providing additional evidence for static slicing's practicability.