JZUS - Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE

Journal of Zhejiang University SCIENCE A 2005 Vol.6 No.1 P.63-70

http://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.2005.A0063

Tools to make C programs safe: a deeper study*

Author(s): Ji-min Wang¹, Ling-di Ping¹, Xue-zeng Pan¹, Hai-bin Shen², Xiao-lang Yan²
Affiliation(s): 1. School of Computer Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China; more
Corresponding email(s): bigjim@zju.edu.cn
Key Words: Unsafe feature, C language, Instrumentation tools, Safe dialect

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Abstract: The C programming language is expressive and flexible, but not safe; as its expressive power and flexibility are obtained through unsafe language features, and improper use of these features can lead to program bugs whose causes are hard to identify. Since C is widely used, and it is impractical to rewrite all existing C programs in safe languages, so ways must be found to make C programs safe. This paper deals with the unsafe features of C and presents a survey on existing solutions to make C programs safe. We have studied binary-level instrumentation tools, source checkers, source-level instrumentation tools and safe dialects of C, and present a comparison of different solutions, summarized the strengths and weaknesses of different classes of solutions, and show measures that could possibly improve the accuracy or alleviate the overhead of existing solutions.

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