Record and replay debugging explained

Record and replay debugging is the process of recording the execution of a software program so that it may be played back within a debugger to help diagnose and resolve defects.^[1] The concept is analogous to the use of a flight data recorder to diagnose the cause of an airplane flight malfunction.^[2]

Recording and replaying

Record and replay debuggers record application state at every step of the program's process and thread execution, including memory interactions, deterministic and non-deterministic inputs, system resource status, and store it to disk in a log.^[3] The recording allows the program to be replayed again and again, and debugged exactly as it happened.

Usage

Recordings can be made in one location and replayed in another,^[4] which makes it useful for remote debugging.

Record and replay debugging is particularly useful for debugging intermittent and non-deterministic defects, which can be difficult to reproduce.

Record and replay debugging technology is often fundamental to reverse debugging and time travel debugging.

Record and replay debuggers

• GDB (GNU)^[5]
• LiveRecorder (Undo)^[6]
• rr (Mozilla)
• TotalView's ReplayEngine (RogueWave)^[7]
• PyTrace for Python^[8]

Notes and References

1. Mozilla . Engineering Record And Replay For Deployability Extended Technical Report . 2017 . cs.PL . 1705.05937 .
2. Web site: Zicari . Roberto . On Software Reliability. Interview with Barry Morris and Dale Vile. . ODBMS Industry Watch . ODBMS Industry Watch . 2 April 2019.
3. Web site: Undo, Ltd. . System and method for debugging of computer programs . Google Patents . US Patent Office . 23 February 2016.
4. Web site: Undo, Ltd . Remote recording . Undo Documentation . Undo, Ltd. . 1 October 2019.
5. Web site: Process Record and Replay (Debugging with GDB).
6. Web site: LiveRecorder - Undo.
7. Web site: TotalView for HPC.
8. Web site: PyTrace Time Travel Debugger for Python.