GDB vs PonyDebugger

GDB is a free debugger for inspecting a program as it runs or after it crashes. It can launch programs, stop execution under specified conditions, examine the stopped state, and change program state for experimentation. A target can run on the same machine, remotely, or in a simulator. GDB runs on popular UNIX variants, Microsoft Windows, and macOS, and supports languages including C, C++, Rust, Go, Ada, Fortran, Assembly, and others. Debugging options include conditional and exception breakpoints, core dump debugging, and record-and-replay with forward and reverse execution on supported platforms. For remote debugging, gdbserver connects a program to GDB. The console interpreter and GDB/MI are available, while Python extensions and the Debugger Adapter Protocol require Python support at build time. GDB is part of the GNU Project and is free software under the GNU General Public License, which allows copying, adaptation, and redistribution with source access. Official releases are available from GNU and Sourceware, with signature verification through the GNU keyring. Version 18.1 was released on September 25, 2026.

PonyDebugger is a free remote debugging toolset for native iOS apps. An app-side client connects to a gateway server, which presents debugging views through Chrome Developer Tools. Network traffic can be routed through a proxy for inspection in Chrome’s Network tools, including HTTPS; the client automatically proxies requests using NSURLConnection and NSURLSession. Developers can register managed object contexts and browse Core Data entities and objects, though these stores are read-only. The view hierarchy display can highlight matching views, edit displayed attributes, and remove nodes. Remote logging supports text and recursive inspection of object properties. Setup requires integrating the client and connecting it to the gateway; the quick start requires Xcode Command Line Tools. The gateway serves Chrome Developer Tools on localhost port 9000 by default, and can be configured for access from another device or computer. The iOS client requires iOS 5.0 or above. The project is Apache License 2.0; its README warns that automatic forwarding of all network traffic swizzles private API methods and should be limited to debug builds.