Flow-Sensitive Programming Environments

Christoph Steindl
Johannes Kepler University Linz
Institute for Practical Computer Science
Altenbergerstraße 69, A-4040 Linz
steindl@ssw.uni-linz.ac.at

Abstract

Many programmers write their programs with a primitive text editor that has no knowledge about the edited text. On the other hand, they use ingenious compilers that collect control flow and data flow information to perform optimizations and generate optimized code. We show how the programmer can benefit from a programming environment that is flow-sensitive because it has knowledge of the control flow and data flow of the edited programs. Additionally we point out how the programming environment can benefit from the programmer's knowledge.

Demonstration at the ESEC'99, Toulouse, France, September 6-10, 1999.
You can download the demonstration notes in postscript.