A Formal Automated Approach for Reverse Engineering Programs with Pointers

Given a program S and a precondition Q, the strongest postcondition, denoted sp(S; Q), is defined as the strongest condition that holds after the execution of S, given that S terminates. By defining the formal semantics of each of the constructs of a programming language, a formal specification of the behavior of a program written using the given programming language can be constructed. In this paper we address the formal semantics of pointers in order to handle a realistic model of programming languages that incorporate the use of pointers. In addition, we present a tool for supporting the construction of formal specifications of programs that include the use of pointers. 1. Introduction As the demands placed on software continue to grow, there is an increasing recognition that software can be error prone. Moreover, the rising costs for software development impose the need to use a given piece of software for a longer period of time, for multiple purposes, and for increasingly larg..