Debugging is the process of finding and reducing the number of bugs in computer software and electronic hardware. When a program crashes, the debugger shows the position in the original code. A good debugger plays an essential role in software development.
Debugging can be more difficult when various subsystems are tightly coupled, as changes in one may cause bugs to appear in another.
This article examines three different types of debuggers: source-level debuggers and memory debuggers. Bug tracking software are covered in our Issue Tracking roundup.
A memory debugger is a programming tool for finding memory leaks and buffer overflows. These are due to bugs related to the allocation and deallocation of dynamic memory. Programs written in languages that have garbage collection, such as managed code, might also need memory debuggers.
Here’s a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart capturing our recommendations. All of the software featured here are free and open source goodness.
Click the links in the table to learn more about each debugger.
| Debuggers | |
|---|---|
| LLDB | Next generation, high-performance debugger |
| Ghidra | Software reverse engineering framework |
| Delve | Source level debugger for the Go programming language |
| GDB | The GNU Debugger |
| Valgrind | A memory debugger and profiler |
| Radare2 | Portable reversing framework |
| Xdebug | Extension for PHP to aid debugging and development |
| iaito | Graphical interface for radare2 |
| React Native Debugger | Standalone app for debugging React Native apps |
| KDbg | Graphical user interface to GDB |
| strace | Diagnostic, debugging and instructional userspace utility |
| cgdb | Lightweight console frontend to the GNU debugger |
| PuDB | Console-based visual debugger for Python |
| bashdb | Source-code debugger for bash; follows the GDB command syntax |
| Sysprof | Profile an application or entire system |
| Nemiver | Standalone graphical debugger for GNOME |
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 Explore our comprehensive directory of recommended free and open source software. Our carefully curated collection spans every major software category.This directory is part of our ongoing series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. It features hundreds of detailed reviews, along with open source alternatives to proprietary solutions from major corporations such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. You’ll also find interesting projects to try, hardware coverage, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. Know a useful open source Linux program that we haven’t covered yet? Let us know by completing this form. |