by Stan Shebs
In January 2000, Cygnus was bought by Red Hat.
Introduction
Although GDB started out as a Unix workstation debugger, it has since been adapted for embedded use. In that role it brings
the power and features of high-end workstation debugging to embedded developers.
At the present time, GDB includes target processor support for A29K, Alpha, ARC, ARM (&Thumb), D10V, D30V, FR30, H8/300,
H8/500, i386 and up, i960, M68K (&ColdFire), M32R/D, M88K, MIPS (3000/4000/5000&MIPS16), MN10200, MN10300, NS32K,
HP PA, PowerPC, SH (1/2/3/4), SPARC, SPARClite, Sparclet, TMS320C80, V850, and Z8000. (Some of these targets are no
longer actively maintained.) GDB is primarily for 32- and 64-bit processors; the H8/300 is as close as it gets to supporting
8-bit processors, and only a couple of the targets are 16-bitters.
GDB also runs on almost any host, including DOS, Windows 95/98/NT, Linux, Solaris, HP-UX, AIX, IRIX, OSF/1, Unixware,
BSD, and even MacOS.
GDB is also distinctive as open source debugger. This means that the source code to GDB is publicly available, and that
anyone can use it and modify it. The only caveat is that no one can deny anybody else these rights, which means that the
source code remains available forever.
In the following sections, I will begin by reviewing history leading up to the present, followed by an overview of GDB's features.
Then I will describe how GDB is put together, and go on to discuss expected future developments for the debugger.
The GNU Debugger GDB is perhaps the most widely used debugger in the world; it has been ported to nearly every host and
target in existence, and is the favored debugger of many thousands of developers.
Table of Contents
Origin and Evolution of GDB
GDB Features
Interfaces to GDB
Internal Structure of GDB
Future Plans
How to Learn More