Editing Insure++

{{Short description|Memory debugger software}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Insure++
| logo = Parasoft Logo 2017.png
| screenshot = 
| caption = 
| collapsible = 
| developer = [[Parasoft]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1993}}
| latest_release_version = 2021.2
| latest_release_date = {{release date|2021|10|28}}
| operating_system = [[Cross-platform]], [[Linux]], [[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]
| language = English
| genre = [[Profiler (computer science)|Profiler]] / [[Memory debugger]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]] [[commercial software]]
| website = {{URL|https://www.parasoft.com/products/insure}}
}}

'''Insure++''' is a [[memory debugger]] [[computer program]], used by [[software]] developers to detect various errors in programs written in [[C (programming language)|C]] and [[C++]]. It is made by [[Parasoft]], and is functionally similar to other memory debuggers, such as [[Purify (software)|Purify]], [[Valgrind]] and [[DynamoRIO|Dr Memory]].<ref name="survey">{{cite web|title=A Survey of Systems for Detection Serial Run-Time Errors|url=http://jjc.public.iastate.edu/Runtime.errors.Paper.March4.2006.pdf|work=Iowa State University High Performance Computing Group|accessdate=20 September 2010|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205737/http://jjc.public.iastate.edu/Runtime.errors.Paper.March4.2006.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Overview==
Insure++ can automatically find erroneous accesses to freed memory (use-after-free situations), array-bounds violations, freeing unallocated memory (which often happens when a programmer frees the same memory twice, or when he frees global or stack memory), and many others.<ref>{{cite book|page=490|last=Metzger|first=Robert|title=Debugging by Thinking: A Multidisciplinary Approach|year=2004|isbn=1555583075}}</ref>

Unlike Purify and Valgrind, Insure++ inserts its [[Instrumentation (computer programming)|instrumentation]] at the source-code level,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parasoft.com/insure|title=Parasoft Insure++ at Parasoft website|accessdate=January 29, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=API Design for C++|last=Reddy|first=Martin|page=239}}</ref>{{clarify|date=January 2013}} which allows it to detect errors that the other tools miss.<ref>{{cite book|title=Tools for High Performance Computing|page=147|last=Lier|first=Matthias|date=20 November 2010|isbn=978-3642112904}}</ref> In particular, Insure++ can detect [[buffer overflow]]s in automatic arrays, and overflows which involve pointers that accidentally "jump" from one valid memory region to another, as in the following example:

<syntaxhighlight lang="c">
#include <stdlib.h>
int main()
 {
    char *p = malloc(1024); /* first dynamically-allocated block */
    char *q = malloc(1024); /* second block */
    p += 1200; /* At this point, "p" is likely to point into the second block. 
                  However, false assumptions about the real behaviour lead to mistakes. */
    *p = 'a';  /* invalid write (past the end of the first block) */
 }
</syntaxhighlight>

The source-level instrumentation allows it to not only identify that a leak occurred, but where it occurred.<ref name="survey"/> Some tools merely provide information about where the memory was allocated, Insure++ also gives a stack trace for when/where the actual leak occurred.

Additionally, Insure++ will produce [[Linear Code Sequence and Jump]] [[Code Coverage]] metrics for all tested code.

==See also==
*[[Runtime error detection]]
*[[Software development]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.parasoft.com/Insure Parasoft's ''Insure++'' site]
* [http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/2951 Linux Journal review of Parasoft Insure++]

[[Category:Memory management software]]
[[Category:Debuggers]]
[[Category:Software testing tools]]


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