Debugging backwards in time
B Lewis - arXiv preprint cs/0310016, 2003 - arxiv.org
arXiv preprint cs/0310016, 2003•arxiv.org
By recording every state change in the run of a program, it is possible to present the
programmer every bit of information that might be desired. Essentially, it becomes possible
to debug the program by going``backwards in time,''vastly simplifying the process of
debugging. An implementation of this idea, the``Omniscient Debugger,''is used to
demonstrate its viability and has been used successfully on a number of large programs.
Integration with an event analysis engine for searching and control is presented. Several …
programmer every bit of information that might be desired. Essentially, it becomes possible
to debug the program by going``backwards in time,''vastly simplifying the process of
debugging. An implementation of this idea, the``Omniscient Debugger,''is used to
demonstrate its viability and has been used successfully on a number of large programs.
Integration with an event analysis engine for searching and control is presented. Several …
By recording every state change in the run of a program, it is possible to present the programmer every bit of information that might be desired. Essentially, it becomes possible to debug the program by going ``backwards in time,'' vastly simplifying the process of debugging. An implementation of this idea, the ``Omniscient Debugger,'' is used to demonstrate its viability and has been used successfully on a number of large programs. Integration with an event analysis engine for searching and control is presented. Several small-scale user studies provide encouraging results. Finally performance issues and implementation are discussed along with possible optimizations. This paper makes three contributions of interest: the concept and technique of ``going backwards in time,'' the GUI which presents a global view of the program state and has a formal notion of ``navigation through time,'' and the integration with an event analyzer.
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