Improved Static Resolution of Dynamic Class Loading in Java

Modern applications are becoming increasingly more dynamic and flexible. In Java software, one important flexibility mechanism is dynamic class loading. Unfortunately, the vast majority of static analyses for Java handle this feature either unsoundly or overly conservatively. We present a set of techniques for static resolution of dynamic-class-loading sites in Java software. Previous work has used static string analysis to achieve this goal. However, a large number of such sites are impossible to resolve with purely static techniques. We present a novel semi-static approach, which combines static string analysis with dynamically gathered information about the execution environment. The key insight behind this approach is the observation that dynamic class loading often depends on characteristics of the execution environment that are encoded in various environment variables. In addition, we propose generalizations of string analysis to increase the number of sites that can be resolv...

• Type: Conference
• Year: 2007
• Where: SCAM
• Authors: Jason Sawin, Atanas Rountev
• Keywords: Dynamic Class Loading, Java Software, SCAM 2007, Software Engineering, Static String Analysis