Kurs/gdb

Time: Thursday March 14, 18:15
Place: KJL5
Speaker: Andreas Danner Nilsen
Recommended prior knowledge: General programming knowledge (Examples will be based on simple C/C++), General Linux (or other Unix) knowledge

The GNU Debugger (GDB) is a debugger initially written by Richard Stallman, back in 1986. Since then multiple people have been working on it, but it remains today one of the more powerful application debuggers out there. Unfortunately, it also has a very high entrance level to use.

This lecture aims to explain what a debugger like GDB can do when it hooks up to running applications. Showing just how much easier it is to use a debugger is than it is to rely on printf-debugging, overcoming the entrance level of using GDB, and showing how to take advantage of its power is what this lecture is all about. If you are a hobby-level programmer that happens to write applications in a UNIX-like environment like Linux or MacOS, then this lecture is for you!

The lecture aims to show how GDB can be used as a debugging tool for finding bugs, by stepping through code or inspecting the call stack, local variables, registers, instructions and general memory. The lecture will also show "power-use", in how to use breakpoints, conditional breakpoints, watchpoints, remote debugging and core files.

Lecture duration should be around 70-90 minutes.