Stop-list slicing.
- DOI: 10.1109/SCAM.2006.30
Abstract
Traditional program slicing requires two parameters: a program location and a variable, or perhaps a set of variables, of interest. Stop-list slicing adds a third parameter to the slicing criterion: those variables that are not of interest. This third parameter is called the stoplist. When a variable in the stop-list is encountered, the data-flow dependence analysis of slicing is terminated for that variable. Stop-list slicing further focuses on the computation of interest, while ignoring computations known or determined to be uninteresting. This has the potential to reduce slice size when compared to traditional forms of slicing. In order to assess the size of the reduction obtained via stop-list slicing, the paper reports the results of three empirical evaluations: a large scale empirical study into the maximum slice size reduction that can be achieved when all program variables are on the stop-list; a study on a real program, to determine the reductions that could be obtained in a typical application; and qualitative case-based studies to illustrate stop-list slicing in the small. The large-scale study concerned a suite of 42 programs of approximately 800KLoc in total. Over 600K slices were computed. Using the maximal stoplist reduced the size of the computed slices by about one third on average. The typical program showed a slice size reduction of about one-quarter. The casebased studies indicate that the comprehension effects are worth further consideration.
Stop-list slicing.
Deposited in DRO:
28 May 2008
Version of attached file:
Published
Peer-review status of attached file:
Peer-reviewed
Citation for published item:
Gallagher, K. and Binkley, D. and Harman, M. (2006) ’Stop-list slicing.’, 6th IEEE International Workshop
on Source Code and Analysis and Manipulation, SCAM’06. Philadelphia, PA, USA, 27-29 September 2006.
Further information on publisher’s website:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/SCAM.2006.30
Publisher’s copyright statement:
2006 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. However, permission to reprint/republish this material for
advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or
lists, or to reuse any copyrighted component of this work in other works must be obtained from the IEEE.
Use policy
The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or
charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes provided that:
• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source
• a link is made to the metadata record in DRO
• the full-text is not changed in any way
The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.
Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.
Durham University Library, Stockton Road, Durham DH1 3LY, United Kingdom
Tel : +44 (0)191 334 3042 — Fax : +44 (0)191 334 2971
http://dro.dur.ac.uk
Sign up today - FREE
Mendeley saves you time finding and organizing research. Learn more
- All your research in one place
- Add and import papers easily
- Access it anywhere, anytime