Alias analysis is a prerequisite for performing most of the common program analyses such as reaching-definitions analysis or live-variables analysis. Landi [1992] recently established that it is impossible to compute statically precise alias information—either may-alias or must-alias—in languages with if statements, loops, dynamic storage, and recursive data structures: more precisely, he showed that the may-alias relation is not recursive, while the must-alias relation is not even recursively enumerable. This article presents simpler proofs of the same results.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
G. Ramalingam (1994) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: