UndoDB 3.0 -- a huge step backwards!
Mar 4th, 16:33 UTC
Linux reversible debugger hits version 3.0
Undo Software has released a new version of UndoDB: the leading reversible debugger
for Linux. It brings several hugely powerful new features, including reverse
watchpoints and the ability to debug applications which use shared memory. It's
also faster than ever, running applications with a slow-down of just 1.7x while
still keeping full visibility of the program's entire execution history.
Highlights/Key Facts:
- Reversible debugging (also known as replay or historical
debugging) allows a developer to step or run his application backwards, and so
answer the real question when debugging: 'How did that happen?'
- Debugging may be the unglamorous side of software development, but it
hugely dominates the process. NIST estimates that bugs represent 80% of the
cost of software development, at a cost to the US economy of $60bn per year [1].
- Undo Software pioneered reversible debugging with the release of UndoDB
1.0 in 2006. Since then the fray has been joined by Microsoft, VMware, and
the open-source gdb, but UndoDB continues to lead in performance,
features and usability.
- UndoDB 3.0 can debug almost any Linux process, including those
using multiple threads, asynchronous signal handlers, and shared memory.
- UndoDB 3.0 supports reverse watchpoints, allowing programmers easily to
find the root-cause of elusive memory-corruption bugs.
- UndoDB allows the entire program state to be wound back to any point in the
recorded execution history, yet records with a slow-down over native execution
of just 1.7x - significantly faster than competing solutions, some of which have
a recording slow-down of up to 40,000x
- No recompilation or any other modifications are required to the process
being debugged.
Jacob Rideout works on the KDE project. He says of UndoDB:
"I found the idea of [the]
product amazing and a boon to my productivity ... I already have been able to
fix a deadlock that was driving me crazy for a week in only 10 minutes".
Co-founder and CEO Greg Law says:
"I'm really very proud of what we've achieved.
With version 3.0 UndoDB has become the product we've always wanted it to be.
3.0 might not have the same 'wow factor' as 1.0 did (because the concept is no
longer 'new'), but UndoDB is now a really polished product. I've noticed how
3 seems to be the magic number when it comes to software releases: it's
amazing how often v3 is the point a software product gains mass acceptance.
Original Windows, Windows NT, Xen, VMware ESX, etc. I guess version 1.0 is
really a proof-of-concept, 2.0 is where you iron out the big wrinkles, and
with 3.0 it's really ready for prime-time. That's certainly been the story
for us."
Reversible debugging is so powerful because it gives the user control over
time. To debug a program is to reason backwards from the point of
failure to determine the cause of that failure. On the first page of their
book, The Practice of Programming, Brian Kernighan and Rob Pike (two of
the pioneers of modern computer programming) give the following advice to
programmers when debugging:
Reason back from the state of the crashed program to
determine what could have caused this. Debugging involves backwards reasoning,
like solving murder mysteries. Something impossible occurred, and the only solid
information is that it really did occur. So we must think backwards from the
result to discover the reasons.
UndoDB is a tool as powerful for the developer as detailed video footage of the
crime would be for the detective. The developer can wind his program back and
forth, like a detective whizzing the video back and forth, and then stepping
forwards and backwards frame-by-frame to discover what really happened. The
result is that bugs which took weeks to fix can now take just minutes.
Literally.
Although UndoDB is not open source, developers who don't get paid for
their work can use UndoDB for free. For professional use, UndoDB
costs between $95 and $595 per seat. There is also a free 30-day evaluation
version. UndoDB 3.0 is available now, from http://undo-software.com/.
###
References
[1] NIST --
Software Errors Cost U.S. Economy $59.5 Billion Annually
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/releases/n02-10.htm.
Notes to Editors
Undo Ltd is a privately held software
company based in Cambridge, UK. It was founded by Greg Law and Julian
Smith in 2005, who were joined more recently by Richard Parkins.
The company was formed out of the founders' frustration with existing
debugging tools. UndoDB is Undo Software's first product.
See our press kit.
Contact Details
Email support@undo-software.com,
visit http://undo-software.com/
or call Greg Law on +44 (0)844 826 0344 for more information.
(Submitted by Greg Law of support@undo-software.com)
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