On inferring zero-reversible languages

We use a language-theoretic result for zero-reversible languages to show that there exists a linear time inference method for this class of languages using positive data only

Inducing Probabilistic Grammars by Bayesian Model Merging

We describe a framework for inducing probabilistic grammars from corpora of positive samples. First, samples are {\em incorporated} by adding ad-hoc rules to a working grammar; subsequently, elements of the model (such as states or nonterminals) are {\em merged} to achieve generalization and a more compact representation. The choice of what to merge and when to stop is governed by the Bayesian posterior probability of the grammar given the data, which formalizes a trade-off between a close fit to the data and a default preference for simpler models (`Occam's Razor'). The general scheme is illustrated using three types of probabilistic grammars: Hidden Markov models, class-based $n$-grams, and stochastic context-free grammars.Comment: To appear in Grammatical Inference and Applications, Second International Colloquium on Grammatical Inference; Springer Verlag, 1994. 13 page

Synthesizing Program Input Grammars

We present an algorithm for synthesizing a context-free grammar encoding the language of valid program inputs from a set of input examples and blackbox access to the program. Our algorithm addresses shortcomings of existing grammar inference algorithms, which both severely overgeneralize and are prohibitively slow. Our implementation, GLADE, leverages the grammar synthesized by our algorithm to fuzz test programs with structured inputs. We show that GLADE substantially increases the incremental coverage on valid inputs compared to two baseline fuzzers

Improved genetic algorithm for the context-free grammatical inference

Inductive learning of formal languages, often called grammatical inference, is an active area inmachine learning and computational learning theory. By learning a language we understandfinding the grammar of the language when some positive (words from language) and negativeexamples (words that are not in language) are given. Learning mechanisms use the naturallanguage learning model: people master a language, used by their environment, by the analysis ofpositive and negative examples. The problem of inferring context-free languages (CFG) has boththeoretical and practical motivations. Practical applications include pattern recognition (forexample finding DTD or XML schemas for XML documents) and speech recognition (the abilityto infer context-free grammars for natural languages would enable speech recognition to modify itsinternal grammar on the fly). There were several attempts to find effective learning methods forcontext-free languages (for example [1,2,3,4,5]). In particular, Y.Sakakibara [3] introduced aninteresting method of finding a context-free grammar in the Chomsky normal form with a minimalset of nonterminals. He used the tabular representation similar to the parse table used in the CYKalgorithm, simultaneously with genetic algorithms. In this paper we present several adjustments tothe algorithm suggested by Sakakibara. The adjustments are concerned mainly with the geneticalgorithms used and are as follows:– we introduce a method of creating the initial population which makes use of characteristicfeatures of context-free grammars,– new genetic operations are used (mutation with a path added, ‘die process’, ‘war/diseaseprocess’),– different definition of the fitness function,– an effective compression of the structure of an individual in the population is suggested.These changes allow to speed up the process of grammar generation and, what is more, theyallow to infer richer grammars than considered in [3]

Algebraic properties of operator precedence languages

This paper presents new results on the algebraic ordering properties of operator precedence grammars and languages. This work was motivated by, and applied to, the mechanical acquisition or inference of operator precedence grammars. A new normal form of operator precedence grammars called homogeneous is defined. An algorithm is given to construct a grammar, called max-grammar, generating the largest language which is compatible with a given precedence matrix. Then the class of free grammars is introduced as a special subclass of operator precedence grammars. It is shown that operator precedence languages corresponding to a given precedence matrix form a Boolean algebra

Active Learning of Points-To Specifications

When analyzing programs, large libraries pose significant challenges to static points-to analysis. A popular solution is to have a human analyst provide points-to specifications that summarize relevant behaviors of library code, which can substantially improve precision and handle missing code such as native code. We propose ATLAS, a tool that automatically infers points-to specifications. ATLAS synthesizes unit tests that exercise the library code, and then infers points-to specifications based on observations from these executions. ATLAS automatically infers specifications for the Java standard library, and produces better results for a client static information flow analysis on a benchmark of 46 Android apps compared to using existing handwritten specifications