Tsoding's first look at the RAD Debugger on Linux
- YT :: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJzPZsf9qTw
- Original title :: @Tsoding checks out The RAD Debugger on Linux
A clip from Tsoding's stream "Reviving Win32 C code from 2003 on Linux" (https://youtu.be/DaJWWePhRsM). His ported program crashes, so he tries the RAD Debugger, which was recently released for Linux. He builds it from source, gets past a confusing first run, and ends up impressed enough to consider a stream on its codebase.
Building it
The Linux release zip seems to hold only Windows material, so he shallow-clones the repo and runs build.sh. The build is quick. He laughs at the message "for a faster build, pass release, which will take significantly longer": it means a faster executable, not a faster build. ldd shows the binary depends only on libraries already on his machine, which he praises: "that's how software should be done".
First run
Onboarding is smooth: add a target executable, then launch and run. At first it shows only disassembly, no source. He suspects his program wasn't built with debug info. GF2 shows the same thing, which confirms it. After a full rebuild with debug info, F5 in RAD DBG lands on the crashing line with source shown. The crash is an invalid memory reference, probably from something not initialized.
Impressions
His first impression is very good: responsive, "satisfying" UI with watches, breakpoints and a command search. He looks at the source, finds a custom from-scratch UI core, and floats a future stream exploring the RAD Debugger codebase.