Verifiable annotations for embedded java environments
Guangyu Chen, Mahmut Kandemir · 2005
Many implementations of Java Virtual Machine (JVM) use optimizing dynamic compilation for improving performance of Java applications. However, optimizing compilation is expensive in terms of both time and memory space complexity. Annotations are frequently used to reduce the dynamic compilation overhead in embedded Java environments where the memory budget and CPU speed are limited. However, some annotations can cause the dynamic compiler to generate code that violates the security policy of the JVM. These annotations present a safety problem if they are not verified before being used by the compiler. In this work, we present annotation schemes for three frequently used optimizations: null pointer check removal, value liveness analysis, and array bound check removal. All our annotations can be verified at low cost during dynamic compilation time to guarantee that they do not cause the compiler to generate code that violates the security policy of the JVM.