mirror of https://github.com/tLDP/LDP
55 lines
2.0 KiB
XML
55 lines
2.0 KiB
XML
<sect1 id="ch06-aboutdebug">
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<title>About debugging symbols</title>
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<?dbhtml filename="aboutdebug.html" dir="chapter06"?>
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<para>Most programs and libraries by default are compiled with debugging
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symbols (gcc option -g).</para>
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<para>A program compiled with debugging symbols means a user can run a program
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or library through a debugger and the debugger's output will be user
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friendly. These debugging symbols also enlarge the program or library
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significantly.</para>
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<para>Before you start wondering whether these debugging symbols really make a
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big difference, here are some statistics. Use them to draw your own
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conclusion.</para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para>A dynamic Bash binary
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with debugging symbols: 1.2MB</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>A dynamic Bash binary
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without debugging symbols: 478KB</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>/lib and /usr/lib (glibc
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and gcc files) with debugging symbols: 87MB</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>/lib and /usr/lib (glibc
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and gcc files) without debugging symbols: 16MB</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>Sizes vary depending on which compiler was used and which C library
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version was used to link dynamic programs against, but results will be
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similar if you compare programs with and without debugging symbols.</para>
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<para>To remove debugging symbols from a binary (must be an a.out or ELF
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binary) run <userinput>strip --strip-debug filename</userinput>. Wildcards
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can be used to strip debugging symbols from multiple files (use something
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like <userinput>strip --strip-debug $LFS/usr/bin/*</userinput>).
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Most people will probably never use a debugger on software, so by
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removing those symbols a lot of disk space can be regained.</para>
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<para>For your convenience, chapter 9 includes one simple command to strip
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all debugging symbols from all programs and libraries on your
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system.</para>
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<para>You might find additional information in the optimization hint which can
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be found at <ulink
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url="&hints-root;optimization.txt">&hints-root;optimization.txt</ulink>
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.</para>
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</sect1>
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