Flow-sensitive alias analysis with referred-set representation for Java

Abstract

Alias analysis refers to the determination of objects that may be accessed by two or more names. Many alias analysis algorithms have been proposed for several programming languages. In this paper, we propose a flow-sensitive alias analysis algorithm for Java, an object-oriented language. This algorithm is more efficient and precise than previous algorithms for C++, another object-oriented language. For the efficiency, we define a referred-set representation of an alias that is proper for Java, while the conventional representations in C++ cause an inefficient analysis for Java. We also present a data-flow equation based on propagation rules for the referred-set. The equation computes alias information more efficiently and precisely by removing redundant alias information at a call statement. Finally, we propose our algorithm that uses an iterative looping method for an alias analysis with a structural traverse of a CFG to improve its efficiency.