Perl Debugger vs TRACE32
Perl Debugger
perldoc.perl.org
TRACE32
lauterbach.comSide by side
| Figure | Perl Debugger | TRACE32 |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Debuggers | 8.5 (#5) | 7.1 (#23) |
| Purpose | The Perl source debugger runs scripts interactively and lets users inspect source, set breakpoints, get stack backtraces, and change variable values. | TRACE32 connects to embedded processor debug ports to control cores, inspect data, set breakpoints, and diagnose software failures and memory corruption. |
| Support | The download page points learners to learn.perl.org and the Perl Community for help. | Lauterbach provides a technical help desk, knowledge base, worldwide sales and support engineers, and an engineering support team. |
Plans
In their own words
Perl Debugger
Perl Debugger is an interactive debugger included with Perl, not a separate program. Running Perl with the `-d` flag loads the debugger and adds source information, allowing users to inspect code, set breakpoints, view stack backtraces, and change variable values. The program must compile correctly before debugging.
Debugger commands support stepping into subroutine calls, stepping over them, and tracing execution. Conditional breakpoints and watches on global expressions can pause a run when specified conditions or changes occur. The `x` command can pretty-print nested data; displaying lexical variables requires PadWalker version 0.08 or higher. Options can be set interactively, through `PERLDB_OPTS`, or in `.perldb` files. Documentation also describes a GUI option through Devel::ptkdb. The debugger does not provide stack-frame information for functions not compiled by Perl, such as C or C++ extension functions, and compile-time executable statements are not stopped, though some can be traced with AutoTrace. Perl is listed for Linux, macOS, and Windows, and the debugger is free.