CODE-CHANGE IMPACT ANALYSIS USING COUNTERFACTUALS: THEORY AND IMPLEMENTATION
Manuel Peralta, Supratik Mukhopadhyay · International Journal of Software Engineering and Knowledge Engineering · 2013
This article shows a novel program analysis framework based on Lewis' theory of counterfactuals. Using this framework we are capable of performing change-impact static analysis on a program's source code. In other words, we are able to prove the properties induced by changes to a given program before applying these changes. Our contribution is two-fold; we show how to use Lewis' logic of counterfactuals to prove that proposed changes to a program preserve its correctness. We report the development of an automated tool based on resolution and theorem proving for performing code change-impact analysis.