The dependence condition graph: Precise conditions for dependence between program points

The problem of identifying the conditions under which semantic or behavioural dependences arise between different program statements has interesting applications in various areas such as program understanding, software maintenance, software audits and software testing. We present an extension to the program dependence graph (PDG), called the dependence condition graph (DCG), that enables identifying the conditions for dependence between program points. We show that these conditions are not only correct with respect to the program's semantics, but also more precise than identified by other known techniques. We also present evidence that the DCG is a practical representation and can be built for large programs, and sketch many different applications of the DCG.