Time travel debugging

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Time travel debugging or time traveling debugging is the process of stepping back in time through source code to understand what is happening during execution of a computer program. [1] Typically, debugging and debuggers, tools that assist a user with the process of debugging, allow users to pause the execution of running software and inspect the current state of the program. [2] Users can then step forward in time, stepping into or over statements and proceeding in a forward direction. [3] Interactive debuggers include the ability to modify code and step forward based on updated information. [4] Reverse debugging tools allow users to step backwards in time through the steps that resulted in reaching a particular point in the program. Time traveling debuggers provide these features and also allow users to interact with the program, changing the history if desired, and watch how the program responds. [5]

Contents

Characteristics supporting bi-directional travel

There are several characteristics that support the ability to move backwards as well as forwards in time.

Time traveling debuggers

Examples of debuggers with the ability to step backwards:

LanguageDebuggers
C++ rr for x86 Linux, Undo UDB for Linux [9]
R provDebugR [10]
Python PyTrace [11]
JavaScript Wallaby.js, [12] Meiosis Tracer [13]
C# RevDeBug
Java RevDeBug for C# and Java, [14] WhyLine for Java, [15] Undo UDB
Elm Elm Debugger, Elm Reactor [16]
OCaml ocamldebug
Go Undo UDB for Linux [17]
Rust Undo UDB for Linux [18]
Windows Native Microsoft Time Travel Debugging (TTD) Tool [19] for native Windows software (x86, x64, ARM, ARM64 [20] ), eShard esReven Full System Timeless Analysis for Windows [21]
Linux NativeeShard esReven Full System Timeless Analysis for Linux [22]

See also

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References

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  2. Telles, Matthew; Hsieh, Yuan (2001-04-01). The Science of Debugging. Coriolis Group Books. ISBN   9781576109175.
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  4. "Interactive Debugging With Node.js - DZone Web Dev". dzone.com. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
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  10. "ProvTools/provDebugR". github.com. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
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  12. "Wallaby.js Introduction: Time Travel Debugger". wallabyjs.com. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
  13. Donut, Fox (2018-04-29). "You Don't Need Redux, MobX, RxJS, Cerebral". Fox Donut. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
  14. "About RevDeBug". revdebug.com. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  15. "Whyline for Java". cs.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2021-01-21.
  16. "time travel made easy". elm-lang.org. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  17. "Greg Law on Debugging, Record & Replay of Data, and Hyper-Observability".
  18. "Greg Law on Debugging, Record & Replay of Data, and Hyper-Observability".
  19. DOMARS. "Time Travel Debugging - Overview". docs.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  20. "Get WinDbg Preview". Microsoft .
  21. "Full System Timeless Analysis for Windows".
  22. "Full System Timeless Analysis for Linux".