[HN Gopher] Epic Games' "The RAD Debugger"
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Epic Games' "The RAD Debugger"
Author : davikr
Score : 107 points
Date : 2024-01-13 11:38 UTC (11 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| dagmx wrote:
| Does anyone have a screenshot or video of it in use?
|
| Being limited to windows makes it difficult to try out, and
| understand what it brings over existing debugger options.
| TnS-hun wrote:
| Here are two screenshots:
|
| https://twitter.com/mrexodia/status/1745769835215139131
|
| https://twitter.com/MyNameIsMJP/status/1745663984408351028
| dagmx wrote:
| Thank you very much!
| mdaniel wrote:
| https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDo3tH8WgAAaIrw?format=png&name=.
| ..
|
| https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GDnYJFOaQAAuNTq?format=jpg&name=.
| ..
|
| _(those are the urls from the Xeets; I didn 't alter the
| query params, they came that way)_
| cxcorp wrote:
| Anyone seeing any groundbreaking features or reasons to try this
| over x64dbg or other existing debuggers?
| cianmc wrote:
| Haven't fully digged into it, but firstly, the executable is
| tiny, source code seems sane, performance for average sized
| projects appears to be better than existing solutions, and also
| some interesting features such as viewing texture/image buffers
| within the debugger
| dvdkon wrote:
| Nice! Another FLOSS GUI debugger is always welcome. A historical
| capture of this page provides some more context:
| http://web.archive.org/web/20230923095510/http://www.radgame...
| It's rather open, which I appreciate (I suppose it's partly why
| so many companies licence Bink).
|
| Interestingly, it seems to have been primarily a Linux project at
| some point, but this released version only has Windows support.
| I'd also like to know what this release means for the project's
| future.
| cianmc wrote:
| Future Linux support is already confirmed so don't worry!
| cxcorp wrote:
| Thanks! Looks like this project has some high ambitions:
|
| > What's after that?
|
| >
|
| > Tons of stuff. Tons and tons and tons of stuff.
|
| > Debuggers have not substantially evolved since the first
| Turbo Debugger in 1988!
|
| > For example, we have had GUI debuggers for 20 years now, and
| we can't see bitmaps! We can't hear sound buffers. We can't
| view vertex arrays.
|
| > We can't graph values over time. We can't even load a
| debugging session from yesterday and review it! We have a long
| way to go.
|
| > Debugging is desperate need of updating, and we see as a long
| term project. We'll be adding visualizers, new debugging
| workflows (step through code on multiple platforms at the same
| time for example), and new features for a long time.
| armada651 wrote:
| When I used Xcode for the first (and so far only) time I was
| surprised I could actually view bitmaps in the debugger and
| I've wondered why that's not commonplace ever since.
| cxr wrote:
| Most people don't know what they're missing. None of the
| pages linked (in either the submission itself or the
| comments here) or other comments actually _show_ any of
| these graphical features in use.
|
| This is a problem that extends beyond this submission and
| talk of debuggers. It's basically insurmountable for anyone
| who didn't use Google Reader to know what the experience is
| using it looked and felt like (and in a few months when it
| will no longer be possible to use Google Podcasts, there'll
| be another casualty).
|
| Reading your comment, all I know is that Xcode lets you
| "view bitmaps in the debugger", but that's a pretty varied
| range of possibilities for someone who hasn't actually seen
| it.
|
| Folks who are looking to have an impact would do well to
| document their setups and show how they actually get work
| done, lest we end up in a future where people don't know
| how to run a Python program[1] because nobody was ever
| explicit about it, instead relying on tacit familiarity.
|
| 1. <https://corecursive.com/brain-injury-with-jason-
| mcdonald/>
| ftrobro wrote:
| I suppose one reason is that images can be stored in many
| different ways in memory. For OpenCV images in C++ the
| Visual Studio extension Image Watch is quite nice, I think
| it's been around for more than 15 years:
|
| https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=VisualC
| P...
|
| There's also a recent extension called Image Preview for
| path references:
|
| https://devblogs.microsoft.com/visualstudio/working-with-
| ima...
| techbro92 wrote:
| Fun fact, you can plot variable values over time with gdb.
| You just have to create a gdb extension to do it:
| https://github.com/jyurkanin/gdb_extensions This blew my mind
| when I figured out how to make these extensions and everyone
| should be making their own extensions. It's a force
| multiplier. Literally life changing
| binarycrusader wrote:
| _We can 't even load a debugging session from yesterday and
| review it! We have a long way to go._
|
| Time Travel Debugging provided by WinDbgX doesn't count? Or
| are they talking about all of the commands executed, etc.
| along with that?
| tom_ wrote:
| The page is quite dated and probably predates it.
| PoignardAzur wrote:
| Have they made any progress on that? If so, it's not obvious
| from the screenshots and linked repo.
| AceJohnny2 wrote:
| > _we can 't see bitmaps! We can't hear sound buffers. We
| can't view vertex arrays._
|
| I kinda miss Lauterbach...
| fulafel wrote:
| Which language(s) does it aim to support?
| Warwolt wrote:
| Would look like C/C++
| 0xcde4c3db wrote:
| In case anyone else saw the name and was wondering: yes, it is
| "RAD" as in RAD Game Tools, which was acquired by Epic a few
| years ago.
| Jeaye wrote:
| I find myself writing a great deal of C++ these days, building
| jank (the native Clojure dialect on LLVM with C++ interop). Even
| with modern practices, and Rust-like semantics (i.e. `result<R,
| E>`, `option<T>`, etc), every large feature implemented is
| followed by some period of debugging. None of the GUI debuggers
| I've tried, on Linux, have been compelling. Most either require
| IDE setup for my project or still look like they're from the 90s.
| I just end up using gdb, with some improved configs, in my
| terminal.
|
| So far, the most exciting project to follow for this has been
| Cutter. However, I'd be easily sold on this once it gets Linux
| support. Thanks for making it open source. :)
| echelon wrote:
| I want to make a few predictions for the next 10 years:
|
| - Godot will win over indie devs and start to become feature-
| comparable with Unreal and Unity. By the end of the decade,
| fewer corporate projects will choose Unreal or Unity and
| instead opt for internal forks of Godot. This is repeating the
| same formula the Blender-ization of 3D software packages did.
|
| - Non-C++ engines such as Bevy will start to grow a large base
| of their own and step into the realm that Godot once occupied.
| Lots of use by hobbyists, especially those wanting to dive into
| lower level pieces and wanting to avoid C++isms.
|
| - Epic Games Store won't reach a significant fraction of
| Steam's user base.
|
| - Growth of Unreal and Unity will stall.
| vanjajaja1 wrote:
| i dont understand how you launch a graphical debugger and not add
| a screenshot to the readme.md
| TillE wrote:
| "The RAD Debugger is currently in _ALPHA_ "
|
| Wouldn't really call it launched, just in development publicly.
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