Verified Validation Of Lazy Code Motion

Translation validation establishes a posteriori the correctness of a run of a compilation pass or other program transformation. In this paper, we develop an efficient translation validation algorithm for the Lazy Code Motion (LCM) optimization. LCM is an interesting challenge for validation because it is a global optimization that moves code across loops. Consequently, care must be taken not to move computations that may fail before loops that may not terminate. Our validator includes a specific check for anticipability to rule out such incorrect moves. We present a mechanically-checked proof of correctness of the validation algorithm, using the Coq proof assistant. Combining our validator with an unverified implementation of LCM, we obtain a LCM pass that is provably semantics-preserving and was integrated in the CompCert formally verified compiler.