Specification of concretization and symbolization policies in symbolic execution.

ABSTRACT Symbolic Execution (SE) is a popular and profitable approach to automatic code-based software testing. Concretization and symbolization (C/S) is a crucial part of modern SE tools, since it directly impacts the trade-offs between correctness, completeness and efficiency of the approach. Yet, C/S policies have been barely studied. We intend to remedy to this situation and to establish C/S policies on a firm ground. To this end, we propose a clear separation of concerns between C/S specification on one side, through the new rule-based description language CSml, and the algorithmic core of SE on the other side, revisited to take C/S policies into account. This view is implemented on top of an existing SE tool, demonstrating the feasibility and the benefits of the method. This work paves the way for more flexible SE tools with well-documented and reusable C/S policies, as well as for a systematic study of C/S policies.