On verifying resource contracts using code contracts

Abstract

In this paper we present an approach to check resource consumption contracts using an off-theshelf static analyzer. We propose a set of annotations to support resource usage specifications, in particular, dynamic memory consumption constraints. Since dynamic memory may be recycled by a memory manager, the consumption of this resource is not monotone. The specification language can express both memory consumption and lifetime properties in a modular fashion. We develop a proof-of-concept implementation by extending CODE CONTRACTS' specification language. To verify the correctness of these annotations we rely on the CODE CONTRACTS static verifier and a points-to analysis. We also briefly discuss possible extensions of our approach to deal with non-linear expressions. © 2014 Pablo F. Castro & Thomas S. E. Maibaum.