Abstract

Programming is at least as much about manipulating existing code as it is about writing new code. Existing code is modified, for example to make inefficient code run faster, or to accommodate for new features when reusing code; existing code is analyzed, for example to verify certain program properties, or to use the analysis information for code modifications. Semantics-based program manipulation addresses methods for program modifications and program analyses that are formally defined and therefore can be verified with respect to the programming-language semantics. This dissertation comprises four articles in the field of semantics-based techniques for program manipulation: three articles are about partial evaluation, a method for program specialization; the fourth article treats an approach to automatic cost analysis.

Citations