Global flow analysis as a practical compilation tool

M. V. Hermenegildo, R. Warren, S. K. Debray

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

76 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper addresses the issue of the practicality of global flow analysis in logic program compilation, in terms of speed of the analysis, precision, and usefulness of the information obtained. To this end, design and implementation aspects are discussed for two practical abstract interpretation-based flow analysis systems: MA3, the MCC And-parallel Analyzer and Annotator; and Ms, an experimental mode inference system developed for SB-Prolog. The paper also provides performance data obtained from these implementations and, as an example of an application, a study of the usefulness of the mode information obtained in reducing run-time checks in independent and-parallelism. Based on the results obtained, it is concluded that the overhead of global flow analysis is not prohibitive, and the results of analysis can be quite precise and useful.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)349-366
Number of pages18
JournalThe Journal of Logic Programming
Volume13
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1992

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Logic

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