Lesson plan
Extended static checking
Extended static checking (ESC) is a collective name in computer science for a range of techniques for statically checking the correctness of various program constraints. ESC can be thought of as an extended form of type checking. As with type checking, ESC is performed automatically at compile time (i.e. without human intervention). This distinguishes it from more general approaches to the formal verification of software, which typically rely on human-generated proofs. Furthermore, it promotes practicality over soundness, in that it aims to dramatically reduce the number of false positives (overestimated errors that are not real errors, that is, ESC over strictness) at the cost of introducing some false negatives (real ESC underestimation error, but that need no programmer's attention, or are not targeted by ESC). ESC can identify a range of errors that are currently outside the scope of a type checker, including division by zero, array out of bounds, integer overflow and null dereferences. The techniques used in extended static checking come from various fields of computer science, including static program analysis, symbolic simulation, model checking, abstract interpretation, SAT solving and automated theorem proving and type checking.…
Article summary
Extended static checking (ESC) is a collective name in computer science for a range of techniques for statically checking the correctness of various program constraints. ESC can be thought of as an extended form of type checking. As with type checking, ESC is performed automatically at compile time (i.e. without human intervention). This distinguishes it from more general approaches to the formal verification of software, which typically rely on human-generated proofs. Furthermore, it promotes practicality over soundness, in that it aims to dramatically reduce the number of false positives (overestimated errors that are not real errors, that is, ESC over strictness) at the cost of introducing some false negatives (real ESC underestimation error, but that need no programmer's attention, or are not targeted by ESC). ESC can identify a range of errors that are currently outside the scope of a type checker, including division by zero, array out of bounds, integer overflow and null dereferences. The techniques used in extended static checking come from various fields of computer science, including static program analysis, symbolic simulation, model checking, abstract interpretation, SAT solving and automated theorem proving and type checking.…
Key claims
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Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
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Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.