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Analysis and Transformation of Constrained Horn Clauses for Program Verification

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2021

EMANUELE DE ANGELIS
Affiliation:
CNR-IASI, Rome, Italy (e-mail: emanuele.deangelis@iasi.cnr.it)
FABIO FIORAVANTI
Affiliation:
DEC, University ‘G. d’Annunzio’, Chieti-Pescara, Italy (e-mail: fioravanti@unich.it)
JOHN P. GALLAGHER
Affiliation:
Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark and IMDEA Software Institute, Madrid, Spain (e-mail: jpg@ruc.dk)
MANUEL V. HERMENEGILDO
Affiliation:
IMDEA Software Institute, Madrid, Spain and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM), Madrid, Spain (e-mail: manuel.hermenegildo@imdea.org)
ALBERTO PETTOROSSI
Affiliation:
CNR-IASI, Rome, Italy and DICII, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’, Rome, Italy (e-mail: pettorossi@info.uniroma2.it)
MAURIZIO PROIETTI
Affiliation:
CNR-IASI, Rome, Italy (e-mail: maurizio.proietti@iasi.cnr.it)
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Abstract

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This paper surveys recent work on applying analysis and transformation techniques that originate in the field of constraint logic programming (CLP) to the problem of verifying software systems. We present specialization-based techniques for translating verification problems for different programming languages, and in general software systems, into satisfiability problems for constrained Horn clauses (CHCs), a term that has become popular in the verification field to refer to CLP programs. Then, we describe static analysis techniques for CHCs that may be used for inferring relevant program properties, such as loop invariants. We also give an overview of some transformation techniques based on specialization and fold/unfold rules, which are useful for improving the effectiveness of CHC satisfiability tools. Finally, we discuss future developments in applying these techniques.

Information

Type
Survey Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press