Abstract
Many debugging tools rely on compiler-produced metadata
to present a source-language view of program states, such
as variable values and source line numbers. While this tends
to work for unoptimised programs, current compilers often
generate only partial debugging information in optimised
programs. Current approaches for measuring the extent of
coverage of local variables are based on crude assumptions
(for example, assuming variables could cover their whole
parent scope) and are not comparable from one compilation
to another. In this work, we propose some new metrics, com-
putable by our tools, which could serve as motivation for
language implementations to improve debugging quality.
to present a source-language view of program states, such
as variable values and source line numbers. While this tends
to work for unoptimised programs, current compilers often
generate only partial debugging information in optimised
programs. Current approaches for measuring the extent of
coverage of local variables are based on crude assumptions
(for example, assuming variables could cover their whole
parent scope) and are not comparable from one compilation
to another. In this work, we propose some new metrics, com-
putable by our tools, which could serve as motivation for
language implementations to improve debugging quality.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Proceedings of the 33rd ACM SIGPLAN International Conference on Compiler Construction |
| Publisher | ACM |
| Publication status | Accepted/In press - 24 Dec 2023 |