> I don't even know what "data flow analysis" is and I've been involved with computer programming and data analysis for 15 years. You probably haven't been inv

> I don't even know what "data flow analysis" is and I've been involved with computer programming and data analysis for 15 years. You probably haven't been involved with compiler development in these 15 years; data flow analysis is one of the techniques used by optimizing compilers to reason about the code. Given the context (not only there is a compiler converting Java source code to Java bytecode, but also the Java Virtual Machine acts as a "just-in-time" compiler from the Java bytecode to machine code), everyone involved most probably already know what "data flow analysis" is. And by "simple" the author most probably means that a basic data flow analysis, with no extra bells and whistles, would be enough for the described purpose.