Pointer Analysis for Source-to-Source Transformation Frameworks

This paper presents a framework for source-level pointer analysis aimed at source-to-source transformations. Existing techniques for pointer analysis are based on a collection of inference rules that match a limited subset of the source language, making it hard to apply them in real-world source-to-source tools. These tools often use Abstract Syntax Trees (ASTs) internally, and it is generally a rule-of-thumb not to dismantle or convert them into canonical forms. This work develops an alternative technique that is based on a recursive traversal of ASTs, making the source-to-source internals the reference instead of requiring the tool to adjust to the algorithms.