Patent ID: 8141050

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for identifying potential deadlocks in a computing execution environment, the method comprising: executing a first executable code a plurality of test runs over one or more processors, and identifying one or more locks taken during each test run; identifying a runtime identity for each of the one or more locks during each test run, wherein the runtime identity identified for each lock refers to a memory location of the lock during that test run; identifying a code location for each of the one or more locks during each test run, wherein the code location identified for each lock refers to a location in the first executable code at which that lock is created or accessed during that test run; determining that one or more locks identified during separate test runs are the same lock, if said one or more locks have a common runtime identity or a common code location; and utilizing knowledge of the same locks to prevent potential deadlocks from occurring in the first executable code during a real run, wherein two locks are further classified as the same lock if at least one of the locks is associated with a third lock that shares the same code location or runtime identity with one of the two locks.