safe
A safe program analysis is one which will not reach invalid conclusions about
the behaviour of the program. This may involve making safe approximations to
properties of parts of the program. A safe approximation is one which gives less
information.
For example, strictness analysis aims to answer the question "will this function
evaluate its argument"?. The two possible results are "definitely" and "don't
know". A safe approximation for "definitely" is "don't know". The two possible
results correspond to the two sets: "the set of all functions which evaluate
their argument" and "all functions". A set can be safely approximated by another
which contains it.
Nearby terms:
SAD SAM « SADT « SAFARI « safe » safe mode »
safety » safety-critical system
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