Type-based analysis and applications
Jens Palsberg · 2001
Type-based analysis is an approach to static analysis of programs that has been studied for more than a decade. A type-based analysis assumes that the program type checks, and the analysis takes advantage of that. This paper examines the state of the art of type-based analysis, and it surveys some of the many software tools that use type-based analysis. Most of the surveyed tools use types as discriminators, while most of the theoretical studies use type and effect systems. We conclude that type-based analysis is a promising approach to achieving both provable correctness and good performance with a reasonable effort.