Title :
Side-effect removal transformation
Author :
Harman, Mark ; Munro, Malcolm ; Hu, Lin ; Zhang, Xingyuan
Author_Institution :
Brunel Univ., Uxbridge, UK
Abstract :
A side-effect is any change in program state that occurs as a by-product of the evaluation of an expression. Side-effects are often thought to impede program comprehension and to lead to complex, poorly understood and occasionally undefined semantics. Side-effect removal transformation (SERT) improves comprehension by rewriting a program p, which may contain side-effects, into a semantically equivalent program p´, which is guaranteed to be side-effect free. This paper introduces the SERT approach to the side-effect problem, briefly reporting initial experience with an implementation of SERT for C programs, called Linsert
Keywords :
program interpreters; reverse engineering; rewriting systems; software engineering; C programs; Linsert; expression evaluation; program comprehension; program rewriting; program state changes; semantically equivalent program; side-effect removal transformation; undefined semantics; Computer languages; Guidelines; Humans; Impedance; Software engineering; Thumb;
Conference_Titel :
Program Comprehension, 2001. IWPC 2001. Proceedings. 9th International Workshop on
Conference_Location :
Toronto, Ont.
Print_ISBN :
0-7695-1131-7
DOI :
10.1109/WPC.2001.921741
