Static program analysis

Part of a series on
Software development
Core activities
Paradigms and models
Methodologies and frameworks
Supporting disciplines
Practices
Tools
Standards and bodies of knowledge
Glossaries
Outlines

In computer science, static program analysis (also known as static analysis or static simulation) is the analysis of computer programs performed without executing them, in contrast with dynamic program analysis, which is performed on programs during their execution in the integrated environment.[1][2]

The term is usually applied to analysis performed by an automated tool, with human analysis typically being called "program understanding", program comprehension, or code review. In the last of these, software inspection and software walkthroughs are also used. In most cases the analysis is performed on some version of a program's source code, and, in other cases, on some form of its object code.

  1. ^ Wichmann, B. A.; Canning, A. A.; Clutterbuck, D. L.; Winsbarrow, L. A.; Ward, N. J.; Marsh, D. W. R. (Mar 1995). "Industrial Perspective on Static Analysis" (PDF). Software Engineering Journal. 10 (2): 69–75. doi:10.1049/sej.1995.0010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-27.
  2. ^ Egele, Manuel; Scholte, Theodoor; Kirda, Engin; Kruegel, Christopher (2008-03-05). "A survey on automated dynamic malware-analysis techniques and tools". ACM Computing Surveys. 44 (2): 6:1–6:42. doi:10.1145/2089125.2089126. ISSN 0360-0300. S2CID 1863333.