In computer science, symbolic execution (also symbolic evaluation) refers to the analysis of programs by tracking symbolic rather than actual values, a case of abstract interpretation. The field of symbolic simulation applies the same concept to hardware. Symbolic computation applies the concept to the analysis of mathematical expressions.
Symbolic execution is used to reason about all the inputs that take the same path through a program.
Read more about Symbolic Execution: Example, Limitations, History
Famous quotes containing the words symbolic and/or execution:
“I find it profoundly symbolic that I am appearing before a committee of fifteen men who will report to a legislative body of one hundred men because of a decision handed down by a court comprised of nine men—on an issue that affects millions of women.... I have the feeling that if men could get pregnant, we wouldn’t be struggling for this legislation. If men could get pregnant, maternity benefits would be as sacrosanct as the G.I. Bill.”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)
“I will soon be going out to shape all the singing tomorrows.”
—Gabriel Péri, French Communist leader. Letter, July 1942, written shortly before his execution by the Germans. Quoted in New York Times (April 11, 1943)