Debugging on Intel platforms

[Intel_C_Intel]

Hi, I'm Gordon, the Debugger Consultant for Intel's Software Products Division. I'm responsible for enabling and promoting effective debugging on Intel platforms in general, and with the Intel Debugger in particular.

My current focus is on creating a repository of Best Known Methods for debugging serial, thread parallel and cluster parallel applications.

I'd like to get a feel for how the community at large approaches application debugging. I'm curious to know things like:

• What types of bugs do you encounter most often?
• What types of bugs do you find most difficult to locate and fix?
• What methods do you use to accomplish this?
• Which debuggers do you tend to use (and why)?
• Which debuggers do you prefer to use (and why)?
• Which debugger features do you find yourself using most often?
• Which new debugger features would you consider to be essential?

Please feel free to contribute accordingly. I appreciate your participation, it helps significantly to improve both the processes and the tools for all of us.

Thanks!

[Intel_C_Intel]

Has anyone in the community tried the Intel Debugger recently?

If so, I'm curious to know more about your experiences with it.

Is anyone in the community using static analysis tools (like, CodeWizard, FlexeLint, etc) to catch potentialdefectsbefore they surface as bugs in a running application?

Is anyone in the community using a memory debugger (like Purify, Insure++, Valgrind, etc) to find potential leaks andinstances of misuse before they surface as bugs in a deployed application?

What about other tools (like BoundsChecker, etc)?

I'd like to know what your experiences are with these as well.

Thanks,

-- Gordon