Which is the best Linux C/C++ debugger (or front-end to gdb) to help teaching programming?
C++LinuxDebuggingC++ Problem Overview
I teach a sort of "lite" C++ programming course to novices ("lite" meaning no pointers, no classes, just plain old C, plus references and STL string and vectors). Students have no previous experience in programming, so I believe that using an interactive debugger would help them understand program flow, variables, and recursion.
The course is taught in Linux. Teaching them to use gdb is just overkill (they will not use nor understand most features). I just need something simple but easy to use: to see at which line the program is now, what is in the stack (local variables, previous calls, etc.). I look something similar to old Turbo Pascal or Turbo C++ Borland's debugger, or Visual Studio debugger.
Thank you,
C++ Solutions
Solution 1 - C++
ddd is a graphical front-end to gdb that is pretty nice. One of the down sides is a classic X interface, but I seem to recall it being pretty intuitive.
Solution 2 - C++
You could try using Insight a graphical front-end for gdb written by Red Hat Or if you use GNOME desktop environment, you can also try Nemiver.
Solution 3 - C++
You may want to check out Eclipse CDT. It provides a C/C++ IDE that runs on multiple platforms (e.g. Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, etc.). Debugging with Eclipse CDT is comparable to using other tools such as Visual Studio.
You can check out the Eclipse CDT Debug tutorial that also includes a number of screenshots.
Solution 4 - C++
Qt Creator, apart from other goodies, also has a good debugger integration, for CDB, GDB and the Symnbian debugger, on all supported platforms. You don't need to use Qt to use the Qt Creator IDE, nor do you need to use QMake - it also has CMake integration, although QMake is very easy to use.
You may want to use Qt Creator as the IDE to teach programming with, consider it has some good features:
- Very smart and advanced C++ editor
- Project and build management tools
- QMake and CMake integration
- Integrated, context-sensitive help system
- Excellent visual debugger (CDB, GDB and Symbian)
- Supports GCC and VC++
- Rapid code navigation tools
- Supports Windows, Linux and Mac OS X
Solution 5 - C++
Perhaps it is indirect to gdb (because it's an IDE), but my recommendations would be [KDevelop][1]. Being quite spoiled with Visual Studio's debugger (professionally at work for many years), I've so far felt the most comfortable debugging in KDevelop (as hobby at home, because I could not afford Visual Studio for personal use - until Express Edition came out). It does "look something similar to" Visual Studio compared to other IDE's I've experimented with (including Eclipse CDT) when it comes to debugging step-through, step-in, etc (placing break points is a bit awkward because I don't like to use mouse too much when coding, but it's not difficult).
[1]: http://www.kdevelop.org/ "KDevelop"