CLARVA : model-based residual verification of Java programs

Abstract

Runtime verification (RV) is an established approach that utilises monitors synthesized from a property language (e.g. temporal logics or some form of automata) to observe program behaviour at runtime, determining compliance of the program with the property at runtime. An issue with RV is that it introduces overheads at runtime, while identifying a violation at runtime may be too late. This can be tackled by introducing light analyses that attempt to prove parts of the property with respect to the program, leaving a residual property that induces a smaller monitoring footprint at runtime and encodes some static guarantees. In this paper we present CLARVA as a tool developed for this end for the RV tool LARVA. CLARVA transforms Java code into an automaton-based model, and allows for the incorporation of control-flow analyses that analyse this model against Dynamic Automata with Timers and Events or DATES (the property language used by LARVA) to produce residuals that produce an equivalent judgement at runtime.