Efficient Extraction and Analysis of Preprocessor-Based Variability

Abstract: The CPP is the dominant tool of choice for the implementation of variability in large-scale configurable software. Linux, probably the most-configurable piece of software ever, employs more than 10,000 preprocessor variables for this purpose. However, this de-facto variability tends to be ``hidden in the code''; which on the long term leads to varibility defects, such as dead code or inconsistencies with respect to the intended (modelled) variability of the software. This calls for tool support for the efficient extraction of (and reasoning over) CPP-based variability.

We suggest a novel approach to extract CPP-based variability. Our tool transforms CPP-based variability in O(n) complexity into a propositional formula that ``mimics'' all valid effects of conditional compilation and can be queried with standard SAT or BDD packages.

Our evaluation results demonstrate the scaleability and practicability of the approach. A dead-block-analysis on the complete Linux source tree takes less than 15 minutes; we thereby have revealed 4 defects, 2 of which meanwhile have been confirmed as new (and long-lasting) bugs.