A constraint language for static semantic analysis based on scope graphs

Hendrik van Antwerpen, Pierre Néron, Andrew P. Tolmach, Eelco Visser, Guido Wachsmuth. A constraint language for static semantic analysis based on scope graphs. In Martin Erwig, Tiark Rompf, editors, Proceedings of the 2016 ACM SIGPLAN Workshop on Partial Evaluation and Program Manipulation, PEPM 2016, St. Petersburg, FL, USA, January 20 - 22, 2016. pages 49-60, ACM, 2016. [doi]

Abstract

In previous work, we introduced scope graphs as a formalism for describing program binding structure and performing name resolution in an AST-independent way. In this paper, we show how to use scope graphs to build static semantic analyzers. We use constraints extracted from the AST to specify facts about binding, typing, and initialization. We treat name and type resolution as separate building blocks, but our approach can handle language constructs – such as record field access – for which binding and typing are mutually dependent. We also refine and extend our previous scope graph theory to address practical concerns including ambiguity checking and support for a wider range of scope relationships. We describe the details of constraint generation for a model language that illustrates many of the interesting static analysis issues associated with modules and records.