Automated construction of testing and analysis tools

Abstract

Many software testing and analyse's tools manipulate graph representations of programs, such as abstract syntax trees or abstract semantics graphs. Hand-crafting such tools in conventional programming languages can be difficult, error prone, and time consuming. Our approach is to use application generators targeted for the domain of graph-representation-based testing and analysis tools. Moreover, we generate the generators themselves, so that the development of tools based on different languages and/or representations can also be supported better. In this paper we report on our experiences in developing a system called Aria that generates testing and analysis tools based on an abstract semantics graph representation for C and C++ cabled Reprise. Aria itself was generated by the Genoa system. We demonstrate the utility of Aria and, thereby, the pourer of our approach, by showing Aria's use in the development of a tool that derives control dependence graphs directly from Reprise abstract semantics graphs.<>