FSE

A dependence model for reverse engineering should treat procedures in a modular fashion and should be fine-grained, distinguishing dependences that are due to different variables. The program dependence graph (PDG) satisfies neither of these criteria. ...

Program slicing is a fundamental operation for many software engineering tools. Currently, the most efficient algorithm for interprocedural slicing is one that uses a program representation called the system dependence graph. This paper defines a new ...

Many software engineering tasks have a synchronous component that requires the participants to assemble together at the same time and place. This approach is expensive in terms of traveling, scheduling and human resources. Existing computer tools ...

We consider the problem of verifying correctness of finite state machines that communicate with each other over unbounded FIFO channels that are unreliable. Various problems regarding verification of FIFO channels that can lose messages have been ...

In this paper we investigate the appropriateness of formal specification languages for the description of user interface phenomena. Specifically, we are concerned with the distinction between continuously available information, which we call status, and ...

Due to the state explosion problem, analysis of large concurrent programs will undoubtedly require compositional techniques. Existing compositional techniques are based on the idea of replacing complex subsystems with simpler processes with the same ...

In this paper we present an approach, based on data flow analysis, that can provide cost-effective analysis of concurrent programs with respect to explicitly stated correctness properties. Using this approach, a developer specifies a property of a ...

An interactive specification development environment is presented in which a number of development methodologies and specification languages can be supported. Within the environment, design concepts and strategies are captured by the application of ...

This paper describes LCLint, an efficient and flexible tool that accepts as input programs (written in ANSI C) and various levels of formal specification. Using this information, LCLint reports inconsistencies between a program and its specification. We ...

A software engineer can use a meaning-preserving program restructuring tool during maintenance to change a program's structure to ease modification. One common restructuring action is to create a new abstract data type by encapsulating an existing data ...

P2 is a scalable compiler for collection data structures. High-level abstractions insulate P2 users from data structure implementation details. By specifying a target data structure as a composition of components from a reuse library, the P2 compiler ...

Managing tradeoffs between program structure and program efficiency is one of the most difficult problems facing software engineers. Decomposing programs into abstractions simplifies the construction and maintenance of software and results in fewer ...

Testing is potentially the best grounded part of software engineering, since it deals with the well defined situation of a fixed program and a test (a finite collection of input values). However, the fundamental theory of program testing is in disarray. ...

Verifying that test executions are correct is a crucial step in the testing process. Unfortunately, it can be a very arduous and error-prone step, especially when testing a concurrent system. System developers can therefore benefit from oracles ...

The basic unit of testing in an object-oriented program is a class. Although there has been much recent research on testing of classes, most of this work has focused on black-box approaches. However, since black-box testing techniques may not provide ...

The design of a large system typically involves the development of a hierarchy of different but related architectures. A criterion for the relative correctness of an architecture is presented, and conditions for architecture composition are defined ...

As the design of software architectures emerges as a discipline within software engineering, it will become increasingly important to support architectural description and analysis with tools and environments. In this paper we describe a system for ...