What is this?
It's a graphical frontend for gdb (the GNU debugger): instead of typing commands, you add breakpoints, view the call stack, and visualize data structures in a browser UI.
It's a graphical frontend for gdb (the GNU debugger): instead of typing commands, you add breakpoints, view the call stack, and visualize data structures in a browser UI.So is it a desktop app I install, or something that lives in my browser?Neither a classic desktop GUI nor a hosted site: you run gdbgui from your terminal, it starts a local process, and the debugger UI opens as a new tab in your browser.
Neither a classic desktop GUI nor a hosted site: you run gdbgui from your terminal, it starts a local process, and the debugger UI opens as a new tab in your browser.How do I get it running?Install it as a Python package with pip install gdbgui, then run the gdbgui command from your terminal; a new browser tab opens with the UI, and you can pass the program to debug as an argument.
Install it as a Python package with pip install gdbgui, then run the gdbgui command from your terminal; a new browser tab opens with the UI, and you can pass the program to debug as an argument.Do I still need to install gdb itself?Yes — gdbgui is only the frontend on top of gdb, so gdb must be installed on your machine; the UI just drives it for you.
Yes — gdbgui is only the frontend on top of gdb, so gdb must be installed on your machine; the UI just drives it for you.Does it work on macOS, Windows, and Linux?It should run anywhere Python and gdb are available — Linux, macOS, and Windows — since the backend is a local Python process and the frontend is just a browser tab.
It should run anywhere Python and gdb are available — Linux, macOS, and Windows — since the backend is a local Python process and the frontend is just a browser tab.What can I actually do in the interface?The headline features are adding breakpoints, viewing the stack, and visualizing data structures — the core gdb debugging workflow presented graphically instead of as text commands.
The headline features are adding breakpoints, viewing the stack, and visualizing data structures — the core gdb debugging workflow presented graphically instead of as text commands.Is there still a command line, or is it buttons only?Both: the React UI embeds an xterm.js terminal alongside the graphical controls, and it talks to a Python backend over websockets (socket.io), so you can fall back to typing gdb commands directly when you want.
Both: the React UI embeds an xterm.js terminal alongside the graphical controls, and it talks to a Python backend over websockets (socket.io), so you can fall back to typing gdb commands directly when you want.Is it free, and how established is it?Fully free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with over 10,000 stars on GitHub; the project has been around since 2016.
Fully free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with over 10,000 stars on GitHub; the project has been around since 2016.What are similar projects?compiler-explorer, zenc, vConsole, rr, delve, Reverse-Engineering, kitty, pwndbg
compiler-explorer, zenc, vConsole, rr, delve, Reverse-Engineering, kitty, pwndbg