An algebra for data flow anomaly detection

An algebra A is developed that is specialized for the detection of data flow anomalies by interpreting the regular expression for the paths in a program as an A expression. Two methods are subsequently presented that use A but do not require the explicit computation of the regular expression for the paths. One method is based on the prime program decomposition. The other is based upon the iterative algorithms of global data flow analysis. In addition the use of the algebra to get better warning messages than just the detection of anomalies is presented.