Exception Analysis and Points-To Analysis: Better Together

Exception analysis and points-to analysis are typically done in complete separation. Past algorithms for precise exception analysis (e.g., pairing throw clauses with catch statements) use precomputed points-to information. Past points-to analyses either unsoundly ignore exceptions, or conservatively compute a crude approximation of exception throwing (e.g., considering an exception throw as an assignment to a global variable, accessible from any catch clause). The authors show that this separation results in significant slowdowns or vast imprecision. The two kinds of analyses are interdependent: neither can be performed accurately without the other.