How can you use debugging symbols to diagnose issues with your C++ code?

2 How to generate debugging symbols?

To generate debugging symbols, you need to pass a specific flag or option to your compiler when you build your executable file. For example, if you are using GCC or Clang, you can use the -g flag to enable debugging symbols. If you are using Visual Studio, you can set the Debug Information Format to Program Database (/Zi) or Program Database for Edit and Continue (/ZI) in the project properties. You can also choose the level of detail and optimization that you want for your debugging symbols, depending on your needs and preferences.

3 How to read debugging symbols?

To read debugging symbols, you need to use a tool that can understand and display them in a human-readable format. The most common tool is a debugger, which can run your program step by step and show you the debugging symbols in a graphical or textual interface. You can also use other tools, such as objdump, nm, or readelf, to inspect the debugging symbols in your executable file without running it. These tools can show you the symbol table, the relocation table, the section headers, and other information about your executable file.

4 How to strip debugging symbols?

Debugging symbols can increase the size of your executable file significantly, which can affect its performance and security. Therefore, you may want to strip debugging symbols from your executable file before you distribute it to your users or customers. To strip debugging symbols, you can use a tool that can remove them from your executable file, such as strip, objcopy, or editbin. You can also save the debugging symbols in a separate file, such as a .pdb or .dSYM file, and keep it for your own use. This way, you can still debug your executable file without exposing the debugging symbols to others.

5 How to debug without debugging symbols?

Sometimes, you may need to debug an executable file that does not have debugging symbols, such as a third-party library or a release version of your program. In this case, you can still use some techniques to diagnose issues with your C++ code, such as a disassembler to analyze the assembly code and infer the logic and structure of your program, a memory analyzer to detect memory leaks, corruption, or allocation errors in your program, a logging system to record the events and data of your program in a file or a console, and a reverse engineering tool like Ghidra or IDA Pro to reconstruct the debugging symbols from the executable file. Debugging symbols are an invaluable tool for C++ programmers; by learning how to use them, you can improve your productivity and quality. You can also learn how to generate, read, strip, and debug without debugging symbols depending on your situation and goals.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?