GDB Debugger Lands CTF Support

[phoronix]

Phoronix: GDB Debugger Lands CTF Support

The GNU Debugger (GDB) now has support for the Compact C Type Format following support for this debugging information format having been added to the GCC compiler and Binutils...

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=GDB-CTF-Support-Lands

[dwagner]

Sounds like a solution to a non-existing problem. Despite some of our executables being hundreds of MB in size, we have never considered that as an undue burden in exchange for the comprehensive debugging info DWARF allows to store. It's not even pennies worth of storage space.
Is this less informative debugging info meant to help on tiny micro-controllers or where it is assumed to be helpful?

[discordian]

Sounds like a solution to a non-existing problem. Despite some of our executables being hundreds of MB in size, we have never considered that as an undue burden in exchange for the comprehensive debugging info DWARF allows to store. It's not even pennies worth of storage space.
Is this less informative debugging info meant to help on tiny micro-controllers or where it is assumed to be helpful?

From: https://lwn.net/Articles/795384/

Given the dominance of DWARF, one might wonder why anyone would want to work on alternatives. One problem is that DWARF is complex; rather than containing straightforward information about a program, a DWARF entry is essentially a program in its own right that can be run to generate the needed information. That makes DWARF flexible, but it's also complicated and verbose; the DWARF data associated with a program can be huge. That size means that, on most systems, the DWARF data for the installed programs is relegated to "debuginfo" packages that are not even present unless the owner has gone out of their way to install them.

I personally had a rough time with gdb, ever since gcc 8 (and then 9) used more of the DWARF functionality. The debugger would often bug out (and the Eclipse IDE is rather good at hiding the fact that gdb died in the background).
gdb 8.3.1 seems finally stable (so far).

I would not be surprised if DWARF being a reason for that, being so complex that you can hardly test everything (especially if future compilers could invent new ways to do the same thing, and pack some bugs on top) and at the same time under-defined in places (usually why compilers need to get "creative").But TBH I don't have first hand knowledge of the details.

[skeevy420]

I hope it picks up hardcore team deathmatch.

[pal666]

I hope it picks up hardcore team deathmatch.

team fortress