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GitHub Advanced Security: What Is an Extractor?

Learn what an extractor is in the context of GitHub Advanced Security. An extractor is a tool that produces relational data from code for analysis.

Table of Contents

Question

What is an extractor?

A. A hierarchical representation of the code.
B. A representation of the abstract syntax tree.
C. A tool that produces the relational data.

Answer

C. A tool that produces the relational data.

Explanation

An extractor is a tool that produces the relational data and source reference for each input file, from which a CodeQL database can be built.

An extractor in GitHub Advanced Security is a tool that produces the relational data used for code analysis and querying.

When code is scanned by GitHub Advanced Security, the extractor processes the code and converts it into relational data stored in database tables. This relational data represents key elements of the code, such as:

  • Files, folders, modules and packages
  • Classes, functions, and methods
  • Variables and data types
  • Dependencies and imports
  • Data flows and control flows

The extractor parses the code’s abstract syntax tree (AST) to identify these elements and their relationships. It then maps this information into a relational format that can be efficiently queried and analyzed by GitHub Advanced Security.

The extractor does not produce the abstract syntax tree itself (ruling out option B), nor does it generate a hierarchical representation of the code (eliminating option A). Rather, it consumes the AST generated by the language parser and transforms it into a relational representation suitable for analysis.

Therefore, the correct answer is C: An extractor is a tool that produces the relational data that powers GitHub Advanced Security’s code scanning and analysis capabilities. Its job is to process source code and extract the key data and relationships into a queryable format.

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