Patent ID: 8510727

Claim:
A computer implemented system for link-time elimination of duplicative functions; the system comprising: a plurality of program codes stored in a memory that collectively form a program of instructions executable by a machine; a compiler executed by a microprocessor that is in operative communication with said memory and operable to convert said plurality of program codes into a plurality of object files comprising object code; an analyzer executed by a microprocessor that is operable to, at link time, identify from the plurality of object files a first function and a second function wherein the first function and the second function are duplicative, and wherein the object code corresponding to the first function is different than the object code corresponding to the second function, and wherein the first function and the second function are functional duplicates, and wherein the analyzer includes a data flow graph to track data values in an execution flow and wherein, based on tracking data values in the execution flow, functional equivalence can be determined; an object file manager executed by a microprocessor that is configured to, at link time, identify at least one reference targeting the second function and re-route the at least one reference to target the first function and thereafter to delete the second function.