Self-applicable C Program Specialization

A partial evaluator is an automatic program transformation tool. Given as input a general program and part of its input, it can produce a specialized version. If the partial evaluator is self-applicable, program generators can be made. The goal is efficiency: the specialized program often runs an order of magnitude faster than the general one. We consider partial evaluation of the pragmatic oriented imperative C programming language. New problems studied includes partially static data structures, non-local static side-effects under dynamic control, and a restricted use of pointers. We define a Core C language, derive a two-level Core C language with explicit binding times, and formulate well-annotatedness conditions. Function specialization and code generation is described in terms of the two-level Core C language. An implementation of the C partial evaluator has been made. Some experimental results are given.

• Type: Conference
• Year: 1992
• Where: PEPM
• Authors: Lars Ole Andersen
• Keywords: Automatic Program Transformation, Partial Evaluator, PEPM 1992, Software Engineering, Two-level Core