Author: Julia Lawall <julia@diku.dk> In each case, if the NULL test is necessary, then the dereference should be moved below the NULL test. The semantic patch that makes this change is as follows: (http://www.emn.fr/x-info/coccinelle/) // @@ type T; expression E; identifier i,fld; statement S; @@ – T i = E->fld; + T i; … when …