# A Formal Semantics of the GraalVM Intermediate Representation

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2107.01815 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2107.01815/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 5 Jul 2021.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Can Large Language Models Understand Intermediate Representations in Compilers?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.06854/) (2025)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The optimization phase of a compiler is responsible for transforming an intermediate representation (IR) of a program into a more efficient form. Modern optimizers, such as that used in the GraalVM compiler, use an IR consisting of a sophisticated graph data structure that combines data flow and control flow into the one structure. As part of a wider project on the verification of optimization passes of GraalVM, this paper describes a semantics for its IR within Isabelle/HOL. The semantics consists of a big-step operational semantics for data nodes (which are represented in a graph-based static single assignment (SSA) form) and a small-step operational semantics for handling control flow including heap-based reads and writes, exceptions, and method calls. We have proved a suite of canonicalization optimizations and conditional elimination optimizations with respect to the semantics.