A simple polynomial groundness analysis for logic programs

Abstract

The domain of positive Boolean functions, Pos, is by now well established for the analysis of the variable dependencies that arise within logic programs. Analyses based on Pos that use binary decision diagrams (BDDs) have been shown to be efficient for a wide range of practical programs. However, independent of the representation, a Pos analysis can never come with any efficiency guarantees because of its potential exponential behaviour. This paper considers groundness analysis based on a simple subdomain of Pos and compares its precision with that of Pos.