On the implementation of a stand-alone Java/sup TM/ bytecode verifier

Abstract

A member of our research team has already produced a well-organized clear, technical and complete specification of the Java bytecode verifier. We are now using this specification to implement a stand-alone version of the verifier that totally complies with Sun's specification. We are also integrating static checks that are currently absent from their implementation. In this paper we share our experience on that development work. As an introduction, we depict the main goals of the Verifier, followed by an overview of its verification process. We then present the major steps that we followed to develop our Verifier, in order to explain the problems that we have encountered and to summarize their solutions. Finally, we show a screenshot of our Verifier's interface and enlighten its most interesting features.