MAI 564: Systems and Tool Chains for AI

Analysis is the systematic examination of an artifact to determine its properties. This course will focus on analysis of software artifacts--primarily code, but also including analysis of designs, architectures, and test suites. We will focus on functional properties, but also cover quality attributes like performance and security. In order to illustrate core analysis concepts in some depth, the course will center on static program analysis; however, the course will also include a breadth of techniques such as testing, model checking, theorem proving, dynamic analysis, and type systems. Concern for realistic and economical application of analysis will also be evident in a bias toward analyses that are scalable and incremental. The course emphasizes the fundamental similarities between analyses (in their mechanism and power) to teach the students the limitations and scope of the analyses, rather than the distinctions that arose historically (static vs. dynamic, code vs. spec). The course will balance theoretical discussions with lab exercises in which students will apply the ideas they are learning to real artifacts.