Syllabus

This syllabus is only indicative. Our aim is to cover topics in the mid and back-end of a compiler. In the Spring 2020 offering, we will also focus on analyses that execute "outside" of a compiler (Oracle's Souffle, Facebook's Infer, various model checkers, symbolic execution engines, etc.).

Machine-independent analyses and transformations

• intermediate representations
• value numbering
• data flow analysis using the monotone framework
  • available expressions
  • liveness
  • def-use
  • dead code elimination (DCE)
  • constant/copy propagation
  • common subexpression elimination (CSE)
  • partial redundancy elimination (PRE)
  • reasoning in the monotone framework
• interprocedural analyses
• alias and points-to
• dominator analysis, control dependence graphs
• SSA representation

Reasoning about programs

• Types
• Abstract interpretation
• Symbolic execution
• Introduction to program verification

In the Spring 2020 edition of the course, I may elide the following components.

Machine-dependent transformations

• Register Allocation
• Instruction Scheduling
• Software Pipelining

Loop analyses and transformations in the polyhedral framework

Primary focus on vectorization and cache locality