Re: emacs-gdb tutorial

[Benedikt Stefansson]

address@hidden wrote:

> I've never had much use for gdb yet, because I
> don't really understand what it is for.

I couldn't imagine writing a simulation without using GDB, which is why I'm
kind of in a bind with machines where I can't install GDB 4.16 (read Irix 6.x)

The bottom line is that a debugger allows you to monitor and check code at
runtime, stepping through lines of code as they are getting executed. To do
this you set breakpoints (to halt execution on a specific line of code or
method) and ask the debugger to show current values of variables, the class of
an object etc. The Emacs-GDB combination is especially nice since the editor
can show you exactly where you are in the source code.


> One caution/question. There is the obj-c "patched" version of gdb
> version 4.16, but I saw last week there is a new release of gdb 4.17.
> Last I heard it was doubtful obj-c would be included and who knows
> about a patch?
>

I've tried to apply the 4.16 patches to 4.17 but there are two key files that
have been altered to much between the two versions. I tried going through the
files by hand and making judgements about which lines to patch and which not,
but wasn't successful (there are hundreds of differences).

I think one can still use 4.16 on those machines which are supported, even
with GCC 2.8.x. Does anyone know this?

> It may be that your writeup would get dated very quickly.  I guess
> we can insist people keep the older gdb, at least until new unix/linux
> releases start including the new one.
>

The changes to GDB from 4.16 to 4.17 are mostly internal, so I wouldn't worry
about the FAQ getting outdated.

--
With best regards,
-Benedikt

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Department of Economics, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1477, USA
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4/3-7/1 1998:
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