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Soot is a Java optimization framework. It provides four intermediate representations for analyzing and transforming Java bytecode:

1. Baf: a streamlined representation of bytecode which is simple to manipulate.
2. Jimple: a typed 3-address intermediate representation suitable for optimization.
3. Shimple: an SSA variation of Jimple.
4. Grimp: an aggregated version of Jimple suitable for decompilation and code inspection.

Soot can be used as a stand alone tool to optimize or inspect class files, as well as a framework to develop optimizations or transformations on Java bytecode.

Soot is free software and is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License.

We are using Subversion for revision control.

With a Subversion client, you can obtain a copy of the development version of Soot, as well as any old versions. To obtain the latest development version of Soot, use the command:
svn export https://svn.sable.mcgill.ca/soot/soot/trunk soot-dev

You can also browse our latest version, as well as a ViewCVS history, using just a web browser. For further instructions, please see http://svn.sable.mcgill.ca/.

Version 2.0 includes our initial release of a plugin that makes it possible to use Soot from Eclipse.

Get Soot from our software repository at http://www.sable.mcgill.ca/software.

To install it you must unjar(untar) it, and add the classes directories soot-2.0/soot/classes and soot-2.0/jasmin/classes to your CLASSPATH. To test your installation of Soot, try:

java soot.Main --help

for some options on processing classfiles. They are documented in more detail in the usage document.

Note that Soot requires at least JDK 1.2 (Java 2), as it uses Java Collections. The Eclipse plugin requires at least JDK 1.4.

Soot is already compiled in the distribution. To recompile Soot, we use make using the Makefile in the main soot directory. Jasmin must be in your classpath to compile Soot. Jasmin can be recompiled by using the script ./bin/compile_all.sh in the main Jasmin directory (you may need to type sh ./bin/compile_all.sh).

NOTE: The Jimple parser is generated by SableCC. It requires lexer.dat and parser.dat files to be in the classes directory; they are provided in the src directory. Also, Soot uses peephole optimization to improve the generated bytecode. This requires that the peephole.dat file be copied to the classes directory. The provided Makefile automatically copies these files as needed.

We have developed a number of documents describing Soot. Your main current sources of information are:

• Our publication page has several conference papers describing Soot.
• A set of tutorials describing Soot, both as a Java application optimizer and as a compiler framework.
• The Soot API. Most of the functionality is self-explanatory. This API is included in the Soot distribution.
• The Soot source itself. It is full of examples on how to use the API.
• The Soot mailing list. You can browse the archive as well as posting new questions to the Soot user community.

The mailing list soot-list@sable.mcgill.ca is the primary forum for questions, discussions and comments on the Soot framework.

To subscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo@sable.mcgill.ca with

subscribe soot-list

in the body.

To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to majordomo@sable.mcgill.ca with

unsubscribe soot-list

in the body.

You can also view the mailing list archive.

The official Soot maintainers are Patrick Lam, Feng Qian, and Ondřej Lhoták. For Soot support, write to the Soot mailing list at soot-list@sable.mcgill.ca.

Click here for the complete list of contributors and acknowledgements.