Encoding Program Executions

Dynamic analysis is based on collecting data as the program runs. However, raw traces tend to be too voluminous and too unstructured to be used directly for visualization and understanding. We address this problem in two phases: the first phase selects subsets of the data and then compacts it, while the second phase encodes the data in an attempt to infer its structure. Our major compaction/selection techniques include gprof-style N-depth call sequences, selection based on class, compaction based on time intervals, and encoding the whole execution as a directed acyclic graph. Our structure inference techniques include run-length encoding, contextfree grammar encoding, and the building of finite state automata. KEYWORDS Software understand, Program tracing, Dynamic program analysis 1 MOTIVATION Software understanding requires inferring the behavior of software systems. Static techniques do this by analyzing the program’s code, while dynamic techniques are based on running the progr...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2001
• Where: ICSE
• Authors: Steven P. Reiss, Manos Renieris
• Keywords: Dynamic Analysis, ICSE 2001, Middle Layer, Phase Selects Subsets, Software Engineering