Dynamic-analysis techniques are increasingly used to complement more traditional static analysis. Approaches based on static analysis operate on a static representation of the program, consider all possible (and some infeasible) behaviors, and are thus complete, but often imprecise. Dynamic-analysis techniques, conversely, reason over a set of program executions and analyze only observed behaviors. Dynamic analysis includes
both offline techniques, which operate on some captured representation of the system’s behavior (e.g., a trace), and run-time techniques, which analyze the system’s behavior on the fly, while the system is executing. Although inherently incomplete, dynamic analyses can be more precise than their static counterparts and show promise in aiding the understanding, development, and maintenance of robust and reliable large-scale systems. Moreover, the data they provide enable statistical inferences to be made about program behavior. In recent years, both practitioners and researchers are realizing that the limitations of static analysis can be overcome by integrating static and dynamic analysis, and that the performance of dynamic analyses can in turn be improved by leveraging static analysis.

The overall goal of WODA 2012 is to bring together researchers and practitioners working in all areas of dynamic analysis to discuss new issues, share results and ongoing work, and foster collaborations.

Submissions to WODA should be four to six page papers in one of the following
categories:

A position paper describing an issue in the field, and arguing for a specific stance or approach to that issue;
An idea paper that puts forth a radical and completely unproven idea that may generate discussion and ideas for future research; and
An “early bird” research report that is not a “short conference paper” but an exciting report of initial results from new research effort.

WODA welcomes any submissions that strongly relate to dynamic analysis; typical areas of interest that WODA covers are:

Development of dynamic analysis tools and frameworks
Efficient instrumentation techniques
Novel applications of dynamic analysis
Program security and penetration testing
Fault detection and debugging
Performance analysis and optimization techniques
Remote analysis and measurement of software systems
Runtime monitoring
Software testing
Statistical reasoning techniques
Synergies between static and dynamic analysis techniques
Visualization and classification of program behavior
Analysis of program usage
Relating user feedback to execution dynamics
Dynamic analysis on alternative hardware platforms

The workshop will be a one-full-day workshop, structured to encourage discussion and develop research collaborations.

Accepted WODA papers will be included in the ISSTA proceedings and thus will be accessible to the workshop participants before the workshop to facilitate interaction and discussion. WODA papers will also be published in the ACM Digital Library.