views:

156

answers:

5

There are some nice debugging tools available for windows like

Process Explorer Process Monitor Spy++ ( There is some variant of Spy++ like tool also available but I forgot name.. :( )

All above tools are really handy to debug windows application...

Do you any other such tools(Windows or 3rd party) which can be used to make debugging task more ease ?

+2  A: 

Visual Studio. Just attach to a process. If you have the symbol database and the source code... I consider it the most useful on Windows.

Cătălin Pitiș
A: 

Although most people don't realize it , the best debugging tool is actually the IDE. If you have a good IDE (hint: Eclipse ; NOT VS) then half the problem is already solved. A Good IDE (tm) should:

  • Offer good autocomplete
  • Have a good frontend to a debugger such as gdb
  • Show errors as you're typing (Eclipse JDT)

No matter how many debugging tools you have, it will always be problematic if the interface is not clean (VS) and if you're not comfortable with your IDE.

Aviral Dasgupta
+3  A: 

IDA Pro

When it comes to track down bugs in third-party components without access to the source code, nothing beats IDA Pro.

DR
+1  A: 

WinCheat is like Spy++ but you can also get the sources for it. From time to time I also use WinDbg, netcat, WireShark, Beyond Compare, EmEditor and Directory Opus. Although I do most of my stuff in Visual Studio.

+1  A: 

I wouldn't call Process Explorer or Process Monitor debugging tools. Though they may assist the debug process for centain kind of bugs, they are general-use process "exploration" tools.

According to Wikipedia, "Debugging is a methodical process of finding and reducing the number of bugs, or defects"

When you are "Debugging", you would usually have the source-code, and your best tool will most-likely be your development environment. However, there are many types of tools that may help, many of them are programming-language-dependant, such as:

  • Debuggers (Naturally)
  • Code analyzers (Static/Dynamic)
  • Perofrmance tools (for performance-related bugs)
  • Monitors (Communications, resources, etc.)

According to your examples, You are probably looking for something else, Not debugging tools. What are you trying to accomplish?

Lior Kogan
But using Process Explorer and Process Monitor, I've tracked down Memory usage or Leaks, files accessed, registry entries accessed, dll handlers opened etc...It helped me lot to track down such things which is hard with source code and IDE.
Bhavesh.Bagadiya
@Bhavesh.Bagadiya: Ok, you are looking for tools that may assist the debugging process ;-)
Lior Kogan