USING STATIC SINGLE ASSIGNMENT FORM TO IMPROVE FLOW-INSENSITIVE POINTER ANALYSIS

A pointer-analysis algorithm can be either flow-sensitive or flow-inse nsitive. While flow-sensitive analysis usually provides more precise i nformation, it is also usually considerably more costly in terms of ti me and space. The main contribution of this paper is the presentation of another option in the form of an algorithm that can be 'tuned' to p rovide a range of results that fall between the results of flow-insens itive and flow-sensitive analysis. The algorithm combines a flow-insen sitive pointer analysis with static single assignment (SSA) form and u ses an iterative process to obtain progressively better results.