Reviews

  • Kenny Kerr. Windows With C++. X64 Debugging With Pseudo Variables And Format Specifiers

    11.12.2008
    In this paper, the author touches upon such a specific feature of Visual C++ as use of pseudo variables and format specifiers. Beginning with a brief description of differences between x86 and x64 processor architectures Kenny Kerr gives a list of most useful pseudo variables and describes their functions, in the same way he lists some format specifiers and their purposes. Besides, some examples are given of how you can use pseudo variables and format specifiers in visualizing calling conventions, error codes and debugging the security context.

  • Steven Lavenhar. Code Analysis

    03.11.2008
    Since various code vulnerabilities make the code insecure, it should be thoroughly analyzed and made secure. The author discusses such common implementation-level vulnerabilities as race conditions, input validation, exceptions, SQL injection, buffer overflow; then he touches upon the question of code review technique, white box and black box analysis techniques and metrics analysis. At the end there are some links to a list of code analysis tools and related materials.

  • Fast forward VS6 64 bit

    26.10.2008
    This note describes the process of building a 64-bit executable using Visual Studio 6 step by step. All in all there are five stages and each is explained in detail. Besides the instructions themselves you will find some useful tips on debugging the ported project and as useful links to more information on the issues of porting to 64 bits.

  • 32-bit pointers in a 64-bit world

    24.08.2008
    The article "32-bit pointers in a 64-bit world" touches upon the live issue of efficient use of 32-bit pointers in 64-bit environment with the purpose of performance gain. The author describes the operation principles of 'sptr' function serving for data alignment, and also peculiarities and limitations of its use. The article contains many clear and detailed examples of code to illustrate the mechanisms of encoding 64-bit pointers in 32-bits.

  • Adam Kolawa. When, Why, and How: Code Analysis

    08.08.2008
    In this interview, Adam Kolawa, CEO and co-founder of Parasoft, shares practical tips on how to use static code analysis with best efficiency. He tells in detail about the three main sorts of static analysis such as pattern-based static analysis, data flow static analysis and code metrics calculation, and also gives recommendations on how to use a static analyzer in a development process to obtain the desired effect and how the process of code analysis can be automated.

  • Checklist for 64-bit Microsoft Windows Drivers

    15.07.2008
    A very useful document providing information on the major issues of creating drivers for 64-bit editions of Windows. It includes preliminary instructions on getting ready to development, technical data concerning data types and memory, tips and guidelines to coding and porting drivers. Many of these are supplied with clear code samples illustrating some of the issues described.

  • Vineet Kumar Jain. OpenMP: unleashing power of multiple cores

    30.06.2008
    The author of this brief post explains how concurrency helps unleash the power of multi-core systems and why OpenMP fits this task best. He lists the main benefits of threading and OpenMP advantages and also provides some background references on this technology.

  • Rahul V. Patil and Boby George. Tools And Techniques to Identify Concurrency Issues

    11.06.2008
    Parallel programming involves many difficulties and issues, especially concerning detecting specific bugs and bottlenecks in concurrent applications. The authors of this article tell you about the most frequent troubles such as race conditions, deadlocks and memory ordering issues, and then review some testing strategies and give recommendations on how to use them most effectively. They also advise some tools to aid you with concurrency testing (CHESS, The Intel Thread Checker, Chord, KISS, Zing) and give a list of characteristics to be considered in performance testing. In other words, the article includes all the necessary information on testing the concurrency bugs and improving performance of parallel applications.

  • Parasoft Corporation. Static Analysis on Steroids: Parasoft BugDetective

    20.05.2008
    The paper is devoted to Parasoft Corporation's technology BugDetective for flow analysis that provides developers with many benefits such as the possibility of quick modification of code, flexible testing system, focusing on actual defects and errors, etc. The paper describes very thoroughly the working principle of BugDetective and how it can be used in combination with other testing techniques and includes many illustrative code samples and screenshots.

  • Jose F. Ruiz. Don't blow your stack: Static stack analysis for high-integrity systems

    14.05.2008
    Stack overflows might be very dangerous in high-integrity systems and are difficult to detect and debug, so it is very important to prevent them by analyzing the stack beforehand. This article explains how static stack analysis can help accomplish this task and what obstacles can threaten it and also gives some tips on how to use the compiler and special AdaCoreТs GNATstack tool for stack analysis.