Collections Frameworks for Points-To Analysis

Points-to information is the basis for many analyses and transformations, e.g., for program understanding and optimization. Collections frameworks are part of most modern programming languages´ infrastructures and used by many applications. The richness of features and the inherent structure of collection classes affect both performance and precision of points-to analysis negatively. In this paper, we discuss how to replace original collections frameworks with versions specialized for points-to analysis. We implement such a replacement for the Java Collections Framework and support its benefits for points-to analysis by applying it to three different points-to analysis implementations. In experiments, context-sensitive points-to analyses require, on average, 16-24% less time while at the same time being more precise. Context-insensitive analysis in conjunction with in lining also benefits in both precision and analysis cost.