CppCon 2018: Simon Brand “How C++ Debuggers Work”

Simon Brand demystifies native debuggers by explaining debug information formats, breakpoints, stepping, and stack unwinding.

CppCon.org — Presentation Slides, PDFs, Source Code and other presenter materials are available at: github.com/CppCon/CppCon2018 — Debuggers are one of the most important tools in the belt of any developer, but they are often seen as a magic black box. This is compounded by the lack of available literature, especially when compared to other toolchain components like compilers. This talk aims to demystify debuggers by showing how the utilities you use every day actually work. Topics which will be covered include debug information and object file formats, breakpoints, stepping, register and memory manipulation, stack unwinding, multi-threaded applications, and expression evaluation. x86 Linux platforms will be used for demonstrative purposes, but the general concepts are platform independent. — Simon Brand, Microsoft C++ Developer Advocate Simon is a C++ Developer Advocate at Microsoft. He turns into a metaprogramming fiend every full moon, when he can be found bringing compilers to their knees with template errors and debating undefined behaviour online. He co-organises the Edinburgh C++ user group and contributes to various programming standards bodies. Outside of programming, he enjoys experimental films, homebrewing, and board games. — Videos Filmed & Edited by Bash Films: BashFilms.com Work at Hudson River Trading (HRT): tinyurl.com/safxfctf --- Videos Filmed & Edited by Bash Films: BashFilms.com