Technical Skills & Knowledge Base

Zig Patterns

Error Handling

Always propagate errors or handle them explicitly.

// GOOD
fn doSomething() !void {
    try someFunction();
}

// BAD
fn doSomething() void {
    someFunction() catch {};
}

Memory Management

Use GeneralPurposeAllocator for debug builds to catch leaks.

var gpa = std.heap.GeneralPurposeAllocator(.{}){};
defer _ = gpa.deinit();
const allocator = gpa.allocator();

GDB MI3 Interactions

The Parse Loop

The parser must handle asynchronous out-of-band records.

// Conceptual loop
while (reader.streamUntilDelimiter(&buf, '\n', null)) |line| {
    if (line[0] == '*') {
        handleAsyncRecord(line);
    } else if (line[0] == '^') {
        handleResultRecord(line);
    }
}

Essential MI Commands

• •-exec-run: Start execution.
• •-exec-continue: Resume.
• •-exec-next: Next line (step over).
• •-exec-step: Step into.
• •-stack-list-locals --simple-values: Get locals.
• •-data-evaluate-expression "var_name": Inspect variable.

Common Pitfalls

• •PTY Buffering: GDB buffers output differently on PTYs. Use pipes for MI communication to ensure immediate flushing.
• •Signal Handling: GDB traps SIGINT. Sending SIGINT to the GDB process might kill it if not handled correctly. Use -exec-interrupt.
• •Version Mismatch: GDB MI syntax changes slightly between versions. We target GDB 12+.

Verification

To verify zdebug logic without a full UI:

1. •Compile a simple C program with -g.
2. •Run zdebug pointing to that binary.
3. •Issue launch command.
4. •Check that zdebug reports the correct stopped state.