Static deep error checking in large system applications using parfait

Abstract

In this paper, we introduce Parfait, a static bug-checking tool for C/C++ applications. Parfait achieves precision and scalability at the same time by employing a layered program analysis framework. In Parfait, different analyses varying in precision and runtime expense can be invoked on demand to detect defects of a specific type, effectively achieving higher precision with smaller runtime overheads. Several production organizations within Oracle have started to integrate Parfait into their development process. Feedback from various production teams suggests that it is precise and scalable: the tool is able to analyze the OpenSolarisTM operating system and network consolidation (ON) with more than 6 million lines of code in 1 hour, and report thousands of defects with a false positive rate of close to 10%.