softwarelanguageslab / maf

Static Analysis Framework for Modular Analyses
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Include a delta debugging tool for program simplification #25

Closed jevdplas closed 1 year ago

jevdplas commented 3 years ago

Often, when an error occurs in a static analysis, it is tricky to determine the exact cause. Reasons for this include the size of the analysis result and the number of steps required to encounter the bug. Therefore, we often try to reduce the size of the input program to make it more manageable, e.g., by removing or simplifying statements. Unfortunately, this process is very time-consuming. Therefore, an automatic approach that could reduce the program (whilst of course retaining the erroneous result) would improve and facilitate analysis debugging.

For example, for an LLVM-specific delta debugging technique, see § 11.6.3 of https://www.aosabook.org/en/llvm.html .