python-security/pyt

Use function summaries instead of inlining

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#187 opened on Nov 24, 2018

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Description

We currently use inlining instead of summaries, for inter-procedural analysis, which makes PyT slower than it needs to be.

Here are some videos, specifically the last one, explains function summaries well: #57 Call Graphs #58 Interprocedural Data Flow Analysis #59 Procedure Summaries in Data Flow Analysis

Contributor guide

Tech stack
python
Domain
securityperformance
Issue type
performance
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
3-5 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
static analysisPython programmingdata flow analysis
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
35
Research direction
The current inlining implementation is in the pyt/cfg directory. Start by understanding how CFGs are built and where inlining occurs. Watch the linked videos on procedure summaries, especially the last one. Then design a summary based approach, possibly creating a new module for summaries and modifying the existing CFG construction to use them. The goal is to replace inlining with function calls to summaries, which should reduce analysis time.