| Abstract [en]: |
Previously the debugging of optimised code has not been
possible without recompiling the executable code and preventing the
use of code optimisation techniques. Although current research efforts
offer partial solutions to a small set of optimisation techniques, no
unified approach has been developed to overcome the barriers imposed
by a large range of sophisticated optimisation techniques. The
approach taken in the building of the prototype described throughout
this paper combines program simulation and interpretation techniques
with run-time executable modification techniques to provide an
integrated environment for function-level interpretation. This has
been achieved without the modification of an existing compiler and
also without the enhancement of the compiler-debugger interface (CDI),
thereby allowing direct application of the debugger in current
operational environments. This paper describes the construction of
gpdb, a debugger for the Gardens Point compiler environment. This
debugger has proved to be fundamental for the production of an
interactive development environment which allows an optimised program
to be run, corrected, modified, and even further developed without the
need for the recompilation of the executable program, or the resetting
of the debugging environment. |