Program-Dependent Component Amalgamation Without Full Build Instructions
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Solution Overview
Problem
The complexity and incompleteness of build instructions in software development lead to challenges in determining build dependencies, security vulnerabilities, and licensing requirements, especially when build files are unavailable or incomplete, resulting in inefficiencies and limitations in security and licensing analyses.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of build dependency amalgamation (BDA) methods that ascertain multiple name resolutions for build dependencies, form a union of these resolutions, and supply it to analysis tools, enabling security and licensing analyses without requiring a full program build, thereby conserving computational resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If build instructions are made complete and detailed to accurately determine build dependencies, then analysis accuracy improves, but build process complexity and time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary dependency extraction and program representation generation during the build process, storing results for later analysis. This allows security and licensing analyses to be conducted without requiring a complete rebuild, as the necessary dependency information has already been captured in advance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates program representations (copies of build information) that can be used for analysis without executing the full build process. These representations include dependency graphs and component information that replicate the essential build data needed for security and licensing analyses.
2Loss of information
If a full program build is performed to obtain complete dependency information, then analysis completeness improves, but computational resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the necessary dependency information and program representations needed for security and licensing analyses, rather than performing a complete build. The dependency extraction tool selectively gathers component identities, versions, and relationships without compiling the entire program.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs partial builds or dependency resolution only for the portions of the program needed for analysis. Instead of building the entire program, it resolves dependencies and generates representations for the specific components relevant to security and licensing checks.
3Ease of operation
If build instructions are simplified to reduce complexity, then build process ease improves, but ability to handle incomplete or inconsistent instructions worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service mechanisms where the dependency extraction tool automatically resolves ambiguities and inconsistencies in build instructions by analyzing multiple name resolutions and forming unions of candidate dependencies. The system autonomously handles incomplete information without requiring manual intervention or complex build configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses feedback loops to iteratively refine dependency resolution by analyzing build attempts, identifying inconsistencies, and adjusting the dependency graph accordingly. The system learns from build outcomes and improves its dependency determination accuracy over time.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments construct a set of build dependencies for a program without access to a full set of build instructions. When multiple clashing name resolutions are identified for a particular dependency, a union of the alternative versions is formed. Intermediate representations of the union of program versions, such as symbol tables, abstract syntax trees, and other internal compiler data structures, are emitted to persistent non-volatile storage, instead of using a single resolution to create temporary intermediate data to build an executable program. Security analysis and licensing analysis utilize the persisted program representations to analyze the union of multiple overlapping but different versions of the program.