Needless to say that from one software project to another, compile times vary greatly. When debugging we often spend a significant amount of time changing some lines of code, recompiling, waiting and then relaunching the software. While it is true that one has to change their debugging “style” from one project to another (i.e. having a thorough understanding of the problem before “poking around” code is definitely a plus when dealing with big code bases where edit-and-continue is not possible), waiting for the compiler and linker when debugging is never fun. It’s also very unproductive.

In parallel, some of the tools we use everyday allow us to greatly improve our debugging efficiency, though sometimes we are completely oblivious to the power that is available to us. Regardless of how fast or slow compile and link times are on your current project, any tools that can mitigate the recompile cycle when debugging are welcome. One such tool is Visual Studio’s tracepoint: a breakpoint with a custom action associated to it.

Continue reading “A Taste of Live Code Editing With Visual Studio’s Tracepoints” →