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Purify: Fast detection of memory leaks and access errors (1991)
| Venue: | In Proc. of the Winter 1992 USENIX Conference |
| Citations: | 354 - 0 self |
BibTeX
@INPROCEEDINGS{Hastings91purify:fast,
author = {Reed Hastings and Bob Joyce},
title = {Purify: Fast detection of memory leaks and access errors},
booktitle = {In Proc. of the Winter 1992 USENIX Conference},
year = {1991},
pages = {125--138}
}
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Abstract
This paper describes Purifyru, a software testing and quality assurance Ool that detects memory leaks and access erors. Purify inserts additional checking instructions directly into the object code produced by existing compilers. These instructions check every memory read and write performed by the program-under-test and detect several types of access errors, such as reading uninitialized memory or witing to freed memory. Purify inserts checking logic into all of the code in a program, including third-party and vendor object-code libraries, and verifies system call interfaces. In addition, Purify tracks memory usage and identifies individual memory leals using a novel adaptation of garbage collection techniques. Purify produce standard executable files compatible with existing debuggers, and currently runs on Sun Microsystems ' SPARC family of workstations. Purify's neafly-comprehensive memory access checking slows the target program down typically by less than a facor of three and has resulted in significantly more reliable software for several development goups. L.
Keyphrases
memory leak access error fast detection vendor object-code library verifies system call interface novel adaptation sun microsystems sparc family target program reliable software insert additional checking instruction memory read uninitialized memory identifies individual memory leals several type standard executable file quality assurance ool garbage collection technique several development goups neafly-comprehensive memory access access erors memory usage object code
