Taming the Wrapping of Integer Arithmetic

Variables in programs are usually confined to a fixed number of bits and results that require more bits are truncated. Due to the use of 32-bit and 64-bit variables, inadvertent overflows are rare. However, a sound static analysis must reason about overflowing calculations and conversions between unsigned and signed integers; the latter remaining a common source of subtle programming errors. Rather than polluting an analysis with the low-level details of modelling two’s complement wrapping behaviour, this paper presents a computationally light-weight solution based on polyhedral analysis which eliminates the need to check for wrapping when evaluating most (particularly linear) assignments.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: SAS
• Authors: Axel Simon, Andy King
• Keywords: Complement Wrapping Behaviour, Formal Methods, SAS 2007, Sound Static Analysis, Subtle Programming Errors