Software Verification: 2011-2012
Information
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Lecturer |
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Degrees |
Schedule C1 — Computer Science |
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Term |
Hilary Term 2012 (18 lectures) |
Overview
The course presents a comprehensive coverage of the foundations and state-of-the-art in software verification. It begins with a brief overview of the current need for verification tools. Hoare's classic method for reasoning about programs is presented to give a first overview of the concept of verification; the inherent difficulty in using this method is shown. A more formal account on programming languages and their semantics follows. The notions of correct programs and bugs are discussed and techniques to find bugs are presented. A crucial idea in program verification is to use abstraction to reason about programs, known as the theory of abstract interpretation. Both simple and advanced analyses based on abstraction will be covered. The advanced analyses are incorporated in industrial tools and are applied in the development of large systems. Concluding the course, the notion of modularity in verification is discussed, focussing on issues that arise with programs that operate on heap; furthermore, an overview of the field of termination checking is given.
Learning outcomes
This is a research-oriented course. At the end of the course, the students will
- understand the sources of complexity in modern programming languages,
- understand the use of abstraction to cope with intractability of analysis
- have an in-depth knowledge of modern program analysis techniques,
- be aware of current research challenges in the area.
Prerequisites
A basic understanding of sets and relations, logic and program semantics will be assumed. This course is self-contained and any required background knowledge is taught in the lecture or will be covered in the handouts.
Synopsis
- Motivation and Background (logic, set theory) [2]
Axiomatic Semantics (Hoare logic, preconditions, postconditions, loop invariants) [2]
Models and Operational Semantics (transition systems, CFGs, operational program semantics, soundness/completeness, undecidability) [2]
Bounded Model Checking (program unwindings, unwinding assertions, optimisations) [2]
Fixed point theory (lattices, monotone functions, fixed points) [1]- Abstract Interpretation (abstract domains, abstract fixed points, may and must analyses) [2]
Predicate Abstraction (automated abstraction, lazy abstraction, refinement) [2]
Modular Verification and Heap (contracts, invariants, dynamicrames, separation logic) [2]
Termination (ranking functions, termination as safety property) [1]
Reading list
The recommended and required reading material will be drawn from the following sources.- Model Checking, Clarke/Peled/Grumberg, MIT Press 1999 and handouts from 2nd edition
- Decision Procedures, Kroening/Strichman, Springer 2008
- Handbook of Satisfiability, Biere, Heule, Van Maaren, Walsh, IOS Press 2009
- Principles of Model Checking, Baier, Katoen, MIT Press 2008
- Verifiable Programming, Dahl, Prentice Hall PTR 1992
Related research at the Department of Computer Science
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Themes |
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Activities |
Model Checking | Hardware Verification | Software Model Checking |