GDB Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) [Paperback]

Arnold Robbins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Pocket Reference (O'Reilly) | Publication Date: May 9, 2005

Many Linux and Unix developers are familiar with the GNU debugger (GBD), the invaluable open source tool for testing, fixing, and retesting software. And since GDB can be ported to Windows, Microsoft developers and others who use this platform can also take advantage of this amazing free software that allows you to see exactly what's going on inside of a program as it's executing. This new pocket guide gives you a convenient quick reference for using the debugger with several different programming languages, including C, C++, Java, Fortran and Assembly.

The GNU debugger is the most useful tool during the testing phase of the software development cycle because it helps you catch bugs in the act. You can see what a program was doing at the moment it crashed, and then readily pinpoint and correct problem code. With the GDB Pocket Reference on hand, the process is quick and painless. The book covers the essentials of using GBD is a testing environment, including how to specify a target for debugging and how to make a program stop on specified conditions.

This handy guide also provides details on using the debugger to examine the stack, source files and data to find the cause of program failure-and then explains ways to use GBD to make quick changes to the program for further testing and debugging.

The ability to spot a bug in real time with GDB can save you hours of frustration, and having a quick way to refer to GBD's essential functions is key to making the process work. Once you get your hands on the GDB Pocket Reference, you'll never let go!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I'm sure this book will be of great assistance to anyone doing any serious development work in any of the supported languages." - John Collins, news@UK, September 2005

About the Author

Arnold Robbins, an Atlanta native, is a professional programmer and technical author. He has worked with Unix systems since 1980, when he was introduced to a PDP-11 running a version of Sixth Edition Unix. He has been a heavy AWK user since 1987, when he became involved with gawk, the GNU project's version of AWK. As a member of the POSIX 1003.2 balloting group, he helped shape the POSIX standard for AWK. He is currently the maintainer of gawk and its documentation. He is also coauthor of the sixth edition of O'Reilly's Learning the vi Editor. Since late 1997, he and his family have been living happily in Israel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (May 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596100272
• ISBN-13: 978-0596100278
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #581,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #36 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Languages & Tools > Assembly Language Programming
  • #98 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Computers & Internet > General

More About the Author

Arnold Robbins is a professional programmer, instructor, and author. A long-time GNU Project volunteer, he currently maintains gawk. He has worked with C, C++, Unix, and GNU/Linux since 1980.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The free GDB Quick Reference is more useful, March 1, 2007

By 

J. Huang (Westford, MA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: GDB Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

In my opinion, the GDB quick reference that you can download for free is more useful. To go over the basics, this book is OK, but for daily lookup purposes, the quick reference is more useful.

I purchased this book as a "filler" to reach over $25 for free shipping. I'm a software engineer and do use GDB frequently.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth the $10, or even more, April 1, 2009

By 

Alexander T. Esplin "Alex" (Provo, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: GDB Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

I work on a very large C codebase, and 99% of our debugging is done in GDB.

Most of the time, singlestepping through every. single. line. would be prohibitively exhausting. Unlike the downloadable GDB refcard, this pocket reference contains enough info on conditional breakpoints and command sequences (among other GDB treasures) to _greatly_ reduce the amount of time it takes to locate the source of a problem among data structures that are simply too big (and sometimes sparsely populated) to step through one at a time.

I'm a big fan of the O'Reilly "Pocket Reference" series, and this one is definitely worth the price.

4.0 out of 5 stars Good if you already know GDB, November 14, 2010

By 

Ryan Morillo "srart" (Detroit, MI,USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: GDB Pocket Reference (Pocket Reference (O'Reilly)) (Paperback)

To learn GDB get: The Art of Debugging with GDB, DDD, and Eclipse
by Norman Matloff

This one is ONLY if you already know GDB, it will not teach you how to use it!