dnSpyEx vs Erlang Debugger
dnSpyEx
github.comErlang Debugger
erlang.orgSide by side
| Figure | dnSpyEx | Erlang Debugger |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Debuggers | 7.9 (#11) | 7.6 (#14) |
| License | The repository states that dnSpy is licensed under GPLv3. | Erlang/OTP has been released under Apache License 2.0 since OTP 18.0. |
| Purpose | dnSpyEx is an unofficial continuation of dnSpy, a debugger and .NET assembly editor for working with assemblies without source code. | Erlang Debugger is a graphical interface for the Erlang interpreter used to debug and test Erlang programs. |
Plans
In their own words
dnSpyEx
dnSpyEx is an unofficial continuation of dnSpy, a debugger and .NET assembly editor for working with assemblies without source code. It can debug .NET Framework, .NET, and Unity game assemblies, with breakpoints, tracepoints, conditional breakpoints, exception breakpoints, and multiple-process debugging. Editing covers metadata and methods or classes in C# and Visual Basic, plus low-level IL method bodies. The project lists C# and Visual Basic decompilers using the ILSpy engine, along with a BAML decompiler and disassembler. Assembly search, class and method usage analysis, caller finding, bookmarks, and project export are also included. A public API supports extensions, and the C# Interactive window can control or script dnSpyEx. The latest stable release listed is v6.6.0, which adds a .NET 10 distribution. It is free under GPLv3. Release notes describe Wine compatibility adjustments for Linux, not native Linux support. Dynamic methods cannot be debugged because of CLR limitations.
Erlang Debugger
Erlang Debugger is a graphical interface for debugging and testing Erlang programs. Developers can set line, conditional, and function breakpoints, then attach to a process to step, continue, finish, skip, or stop its execution. The Attach Process window displays variable bindings and allows editing values when they can be represented in the running system. A Monitor window shows interpreted modules and information about processes running interpreted code. Debugger can record interpreted function calls for stack navigation, though recording tail calls uses more memory and can slow execution when many tail-recursive calls are involved. Modules need debug information, for example from compilation with `erlc +debug_info`. Global mode can interpret code on known nodes and display their processes, but the documentation warns that using global mode on multiple network nodes can cause interference. The debugger is listed for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and Erlang/OTP releases from version 18.0 onward use the Apache License 2.0. Debugging has runtime tradeoffs: interpreted code runs slower, each debugged process adds a meta process, and timers or tracing may behave differently.