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Documents authored by Chang, Bor-Yuh Evan

Artifact
Software
DOI: 10.4230/artifacts.23656
JoelYYoung/RecTopo

Authors: Jiawei Yang, Xiao Cheng, Bor-Yuh Evan Chang, Xiapu Luo, and Yulei Sui

Abstract
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@misc{dagpub-supp--paper-22494-urlgithub.com-JoelYYoung-RecTopo,
   title = {{JoelYYoung/RecTopo}}, 
   author = {Yang, Jiawei and Cheng, Xiao and Chang, Bor-Yuh Evan and Luo, Xiapu and Sui, Yulei},
   note = {Software (visited on 2025-06-25)},
   url = {https://github.com/JoelYYoung/RecTopo},
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2025.34
Taming and Dissecting Recursions Through Interprocedural Weak Topological Ordering

Authors: Jiawei Yang, Xiao Cheng, Bor-Yuh Evan Chang, Xiapu Luo, and Yulei Sui

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 333, 39th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2025)

Abstract
Abstract interpretation provides a foundational framework for approximating program semantics by interpreting code through abstract domains using semantic functions over ordered sets along a program’s control flow graph (CFG). To facilitate fixpoint computation in abstract interpretation, weak topological ordering (WTO) is an effective strategy for handling loops, as it identifies strategic control points in the CFG where widening and narrowing operations should be applied. However, existing abstract interpreters still face challenges when extending WTO computation in the presence of recursive programs. Computing a precise whole-program WTO requires full context-sensitive analysis which is not scalable for large programs, while context-insensitive analysis introduces spurious cycles that compromise precision. Current approaches either ignore recursion (resulting in unsoundness) or rely on conservative approximations, sacrificing precision by adopting the greatest elements of abstract domains and applying widening at function boundaries without subsequent narrowing refinements. These can lead to undesired results for downstream tasks, such as bug detection. To address the above limitations, we present RecTopo, a new technique to boost the efficiency of precise abstract interpretation in the presence of recursive programs through interprocedural weak topological ordering (IWTO). Rather than pursuing an expensive whole-program WTO analysis, RecTopo employs an on-demand approach that strategically decomposes programs at recursion boundaries and constructs targeted IWTOs for each recursive component. RecTopo dissects and analyzes (nested) recursions through interleaved widening and narrowing operations. This approach enables precise control over interpretation ordering within recursive structures while eliminating spurious recursions through systematic correlation of control flow and call graphs. We implemented RecTopo and evaluated its effectiveness using an assertion-based checking client focused on buffer overflow detection, comparing it against three popular open-source abstract interpreters (IKOS, Clam, CSA). The experiments on 8312 programs from the NIST dataset demonstrate that, on average, RecTopo is 31.99% more precise and achieves a 17.49% higher recall rate compared to three other tools. Moreover, RecTopo exhibits an average precision improvement of 46.51% and a higher recall rate of 32.98% compared to our baselines across ten large open-source projects. Further ablation studies reveal that IWTO reduces spurious widening operations compared to whole-program WTO, resulting in a 12.83% reduction in analysis time.
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Jiawei Yang, Xiao Cheng, Bor-Yuh Evan Chang, Xiapu Luo, and Yulei Sui. Taming and Dissecting Recursions Through Interprocedural Weak Topological Ordering. In 39th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2025). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 333, pp. 34:1-34:31, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2025)

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@InProceedings{yang_et_al:LIPIcs.ECOOP.2025.34,
  author =	{Yang, Jiawei and Cheng, Xiao and Chang, Bor-Yuh Evan and Luo, Xiapu and Sui, Yulei},
  title =	{{Taming and Dissecting Recursions Through Interprocedural Weak Topological Ordering}},
  booktitle =	{39th European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2025)},
  pages =	{34:1--34:31},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-373-7},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2025},
  volume =	{333},
  editor =	{Aldrich, Jonathan and Silva, Alexandra},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2025.34},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-233265},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2025.34},
  annote =	{Keywords: Abstract interpretation, recursion, weak topological ordering}
}
Document
Artifact
DOI: 10.4230/DARTS.5.2.13
Lifestate: Event-Driven Protocols and Callback Control Flow (Artifact)

Authors: Shawn Meier, Sergio Mover, and Bor-Yuh Evan Chang

Published in: DARTS, Volume 5, Issue 2, Special Issue of the 33rd European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2019)

Abstract
Developing interactive applications (apps) against event-driven software frameworks such as Android is notoriously difficult. To create apps that behave as expected, developers must follow complex and often implicit asynchronous programming protocols. Such protocols intertwine the proper registering of callbacks to receive control from the framework with appropriate application-programming interface (API) calls that in turn affect the set of possible future callbacks. An app violates the protocol when, for example, it calls a particular API method in a state of the framework where such a call is invalid. What makes automated reasoning hard in this domain is largely what makes programming apps against such frameworks hard: the specification of the protocol is unclear, and the control flow is complex, asynchronous, and higher-order. In this paper, we tackle the problem of specifying and modeling event-driven application-programming protocols. In particular, we formalize a core meta-model that captures the dialogue between event-driven frameworks and application callbacks. Based on this meta-model, we define a language called lifestate that permits precise and formal descriptions of application-programming protocols and the callback control flow imposed by the event-driven framework. Lifestate unifies modeling what app callbacks can expect of the framework with specifying rules the app must respect when calling into the framework. In this way, we effectively combine lifecycle constraints and typestate rules. To evaluate the effectiveness of lifestate modeling, we provide a dynamic verification algorithm that takes as input a trace of execution of an app and a lifestate protocol specification to either produce a trace witnessing a protocol violation or a proof that no such trace is realizable.
Cite as

Shawn Meier, Sergio Mover, and Bor-Yuh Evan Chang. Lifestate: Event-Driven Protocols and Callback Control Flow (Artifact). In Special Issue of the 33rd European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2019). Dagstuhl Artifacts Series (DARTS), Volume 5, Issue 2, pp. 13:1-13:3, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@Article{meier_et_al:DARTS.5.2.13,
  author =	{Meier, Shawn and Mover, Sergio and Chang, Bor-Yuh Evan},
  title =	{{Lifestate: Event-Driven Protocols and Callback Control Flow}},
  pages =	{13:1--13:3},
  journal =	{Dagstuhl Artifacts Series},
  ISSN =	{2509-8195},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{5},
  number =	{2},
  editor =	{Meier, Shawn and Mover, Sergio and Chang, Bor-Yuh Evan},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/DARTS.5.2.13},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-107902},
  doi =		{10.4230/DARTS.5.2.13},
  annote =	{Keywords: domain-specific languages, event-based programming, language implementation, new programming models or languages, object-oriented programming, semantics, testing, verification, automated}
}
Document
DOI: 10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2019.1
Lifestate: Event-Driven Protocols and Callback Control Flow

Authors: Shawn Meier, Sergio Mover, and Bor-Yuh Evan Chang

Published in: LIPIcs, Volume 134, 33rd European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2019)

Abstract
Developing interactive applications (apps) against event-driven software frameworks such as Android is notoriously difficult. To create apps that behave as expected, developers must follow complex and often implicit asynchronous programming protocols. Such protocols intertwine the proper registering of callbacks to receive control from the framework with appropriate application-programming interface (API) calls that in turn affect the set of possible future callbacks. An app violates the protocol when, for example, it calls a particular API method in a state of the framework where such a call is invalid. What makes automated reasoning hard in this domain is largely what makes programming apps against such frameworks hard: the specification of the protocol is unclear, and the control flow is complex, asynchronous, and higher-order. In this paper, we tackle the problem of specifying and modeling event-driven application-programming protocols. In particular, we formalize a core meta-model that captures the dialogue between event-driven frameworks and application callbacks. Based on this meta-model, we define a language called lifestate that permits precise and formal descriptions of application-programming protocols and the callback control flow imposed by the event-driven framework. Lifestate unifies modeling what app callbacks can expect of the framework with specifying rules the app must respect when calling into the framework. In this way, we effectively combine lifecycle constraints and typestate rules. To evaluate the effectiveness of lifestate modeling, we provide a dynamic verification algorithm that takes as input a trace of execution of an app and a lifestate protocol specification to either produce a trace witnessing a protocol violation or a proof that no such trace is realizable.
Cite as

Shawn Meier, Sergio Mover, and Bor-Yuh Evan Chang. Lifestate: Event-Driven Protocols and Callback Control Flow. In 33rd European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2019). Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs), Volume 134, pp. 1:1-1:29, Schloss Dagstuhl – Leibniz-Zentrum für Informatik (2019)

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@InProceedings{meier_et_al:LIPIcs.ECOOP.2019.1,
  author =	{Meier, Shawn and Mover, Sergio and Chang, Bor-Yuh Evan},
  title =	{{Lifestate: Event-Driven Protocols and Callback Control Flow}},
  booktitle =	{33rd European Conference on Object-Oriented Programming (ECOOP 2019)},
  pages =	{1:1--1:29},
  series =	{Leibniz International Proceedings in Informatics (LIPIcs)},
  ISBN =	{978-3-95977-111-5},
  ISSN =	{1868-8969},
  year =	{2019},
  volume =	{134},
  editor =	{Donaldson, Alastair F.},
  publisher =	{Schloss Dagstuhl -- Leibniz-Zentrum f{\"u}r Informatik},
  address =	{Dagstuhl, Germany},
  URL =		{https://drops.dagstuhl.de/entities/document/10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2019.1},
  URN =		{urn:nbn:de:0030-drops-107932},
  doi =		{10.4230/LIPIcs.ECOOP.2019.1},
  annote =	{Keywords: event-driven systems, application-programming protocols, application framework interfaces, callbacks, sound framework modeling, predictive dynamic verification}
}
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