[Ffmpeg-devel] Re: [BUG] Compilation failure when using --disable-opts

Måns Rullgård mans
Fri Mar 16 00:36:35 CET 2007


Diego Biurrun <diego at biurrun.de> writes:

> On Thu, Mar 15, 2007 at 08:03:58PM -0300, Ramiro Polla wrote:
>> M?ns Rullg?rd escreveu:
>> >Panagiotis Issaris <takis at issaris.org> writes:
>> >  
>> >>Sure. Although I wonder: Doesn't anybody in here use a debugger? Aren't
>> >>you annoyed by the jumping around because of reorderings caused by the
>> >>compilers' optimizations?
>> >
>> >That's what makes debugging fun.  It gets even better on MIPS with
>> >delayed branching...
>> >
>> >Actually, I don't use debuggers a whole lot.  I find a generous
>> >measure of printf works much better in most cases.
>> 
>> You should try Microsoft Visual Studio =) It will totally change your 
>> debugging experience.
>> 
>> (yes, I know. It doesn't debug .stabs..)
>
> IIRC Mans knows Visual Studio.

I have probably used more debuggers than most of you, none of them
particularly impressive, and Visual Studio worse than most.

What I'm trying to get at is that a debugger might often let you see a
snapshot of the process state whenever you stop it, typically at a
breakpoint.  What it will not do is tell you how the process got into
that state.  Placing print statements in strategic places will produce
a log telling you exactly what has happened.  The trick is in printing
the right information at the right places.

Before you ask, I know single-stepping is possible.  It's just not
practical to single-step for three days waiting for the special
condition to arise, at the same time mentally tracking the state in
some vain hope to spot the point where things go wrong.  Debuggers
can also interfere with the execution, especially timing, in ways that
might cause the bug to never manifest itself.

I appreciate that different people will find themselves more
comfortable with different techniques, and no single debugging method
is the best for everybody.  That said, I have a reputation at work for
quickly finding difficult bugs after others have failed...

> May I take bets who is going to survive the upcoming flamewar unscathed?

What war?

-- 
M?ns Rullg?rd
mans at mansr.com




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