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Unreachable procedures in object-oriented programming

Published:01 December 1992Publication History
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Abstract

Unreachable procedures are procedures that can never be invoked. Their existence may adversely affect the performance of a program. Unfortunately, their detection requires the entire program to be present. Using a long-time code modification system, we analyze large, linked, program modules of C++, C, and Fortran. We find that C++ programs using object-oriented programming style contain a large fraction of unreachable procedure code. In contrast, C and Fortran programs have a low and essentially constant fraction of unreachable code. In this article, we present our analysis of C++, C, and Fortran programs, and we discuss how object-oriented programming style generates unreachable procedures.

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        cover image ACM Letters on Programming Languages and Systems
        ACM Letters on Programming Languages and Systems  Volume 1, Issue 4
        Dec. 1992
        62 pages
        ISSN:1057-4514
        EISSN:1557-7384
        DOI:10.1145/161494
        Issue’s Table of Contents

        Copyright © 1992 ACM

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        Association for Computing Machinery

        New York, NY, United States

        Publication History

        • Published: 1 December 1992
        Published in loplas Volume 1, Issue 4

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