Re: RFC: Components

[jtc at redback dot com (J.T. Conklin)]

>>>>> "Fernando" == Fernando Nasser <fnasser@cygnus.com> writes:
Fernando> We got a submission from a contributor that would like to
Fernando> add the following facility to GDB, which can be useful when
Fernando> debugging Operating Systems.

"Useful for debugging operating systems" may be stretching the truth a
bit, as it's only useful for those that bind objects into multiple
'components' linked at different addressed but are loaded into memory
at the same time.  Seems a bit odd to me, but I can't discount it
completely.  I once used a system that had assembly language 'stubs'
for calling real functions/system calls in a different component.  But
since they were assembly and only a few lines long, there was no need
for debugger support.

Yet something bugs me about the implementation.  The word "component"
doesn't seem right, but I can't think of a good alternative.  "module"
seems too general as well.  The other thing I'm uneasy about is that
component names are inherited from the names of the symbol files.
Again, I don't have any alternative to propose.

I'd suggest that the contributor feel free to come and participate in
this discussion.  I think it will be more efficent and yeild better
results than design by proxy.  Besides, we don't bite.

        --jtc

-- 
J.T. Conklin
RedBack Networks