Extended static checking

Extended static checking (ESC) is a collective name 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 which 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. Extended static checking is generally performed only at an intraprocedural level (rather than an interprocedural one) in order to scale to large programs. Furthermore, extended static checking aims to report errors by exploiting user-supplied specifications, in the form of pre- and post-conditions, loop invariants and class invariants.

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