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0 pointsmichaelhoffman10y ago0 comments

You can use gdb as an REPL for C.

0 comments

My gdb-fu is weak, but don't you have to have a binary that you're debugging to do that? I'm thinking of this as more of an exploratory thing-- poking around the edges of an API until I feel comfortable enough with it to start writing real code.

michaelhoffmanOP10y ago

Sure, but you could compile:

    #include <my_api.h>
    
    int main() { return 0; }

sea6ear10y ago

This blew my mind the first time some one showed me, and is one of the reasons I currently prefer C to other mainstream compiled languages.

Edit: I suppose it is possible to get some version of a repl with C++ (Cling?), Java (Beanshell, Java 9?), C# (Mono, but not currently .Net?). But each of those seems generally a bit harder to get access to than simply calling gdb on a binary with debugging symbols enabled.

wvenable10y ago

C# has REPL in the immediate window when the debugger is running; so it's kind of like using GDB as a REPL for C. Although it is somewhat limited in what you can do.

sea6ear10y ago

That's actually really good to know about.

Visual Studio's a little bit heavyweight, but if you're programming C#, there's a good chance that's what you're using anyway.

shanemhansen10y ago

beanshell is quite painful. I like using the repl of a jvm language to explore classes and methods. Like slime+clojure or groovysh or jruby.

jhallenworld10y ago

Reminds me of vxworks: the main shell for the operating system is the debugger.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

0 comments

eric_the_read10y ago

michaelhoffmanOP10y ago

Sure, but you could compile:

    #include <my_api.h>
    
    int main() { return 0; }

sea6ear10y ago

This blew my mind the first time some one showed me, and is one of the reasons I currently prefer C to other mainstream compiled languages.

wvenable10y ago

C# has REPL in the immediate window when the debugger is running; so it's kind of like using GDB as a REPL for C. Although it is somewhat limited in what you can do.

sea6ear10y ago

That's actually really good to know about.

Visual Studio's a little bit heavyweight, but if you're programming C#, there's a good chance that's what you're using anyway.

shanemhansen10y ago

beanshell is quite painful. I like using the repl of a jvm language to explore classes and methods. Like slime+clojure or groovysh or jruby.

jhallenworld10y ago

Reminds me of vxworks: the main shell for the operating system is the debugger.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse