Christopher A. Stone: Fixed points, lattices, and data flow analysis

Fixed points, lattices, and data flow analysis

Christopher A. Stone
Harvey Mudd College
USA

Abstract: Many questions about programs, such as those appearing in optimizing compilers, can be phrased as systems of equations. Solutions are found in practice by transforming the equations to a function on a lattice or semilattice and computing the least fixed point by iteration. Only finitely many steps are required, because the underlying structures have finite height.