GDB (GNU Project Debugger) is a debugger developed by the GNU Project. It lets you analyze and modify the behavior of programs while they are running. It supports multiple programming languages such as C, C++, Fortran, Ada, and others. GDB helps you identify bugs, examine variables, and control the flow of execution.
Download GDB (Official links)File size: 23 MB
The latest version of GDB is: 16.3
Operating system: Windows, Linux, Mac
Languages: English
Price: $0.00 USD
- Setting breakpoints. Lets you pause program execution at specific lines of code, functions, or memory addresses. Breakpoints can be conditional, triggering only when a defined condition is met.
- Step-by-step execution (stepping). Makes it possible to run code line by line, either stepping into functions (step into) or running them without entering (step over). This lets you analyze the program flow with precision.
- Variable and memory inspection. Provides tools for examining the values of variables, registers, and memory areas during execution. You can evaluate expressions and modify values in real time.
- Call stack manipulation. Shows the sequence of function calls that led to the current point of execution. Lets you navigate between stack frames to inspect local variables and arguments.
- Multithreaded program debugging. Supports debugging applications with multiple threads of execution. Lets you switch between threads, set thread-specific breakpoints, and analyze interactions between them.
- Remote debugging. Can debug programs running on remote systems over serial or network connections. GDB communicates with a debugging server (gdbserver) on the remote machine.
- Command automation. Lets you create scripts with GDB commands to automate repetitive tasks. Scripts can contain conditions, loops, and custom commands.
- Core dump analysis. Examines files generated after a program crash to determine the cause of the error. GDB can reconstruct the state of the program at the moment of the crash.
- Support for different architectures. Compatible with multiple processor architectures such as x86, ARM, PowerPC, and others. Includes handling of architecture-specific registers and execution modes.
- Integration with development environments. Works as the debugging engine for IDEs such as Eclipse, Visual Studio Code, and others. Provides an interface that these environments can use.
- Modifying running code. Lets you change the behavior of a program without recompiling, by altering variable values or even patching machine code.
- Multi-language support. Although mainly used with C/C++, GDB understands the syntax and specific features of other languages such as Fortran and Ada.
GDB was created in 1986 by Richard Stallman as part of the GNU Project. It is written mainly in C, with some parts in assembly language for architecture-specific handling. Since its early days, it has been maintained by the Free Software Foundation. Over the years, it has added support for new languages, architectures, and advanced debugging features. Its development remains active, with contributions from a global community of developers.
Alternatives to GDB:
For GDB there are 4 alternative programs. Free: 4, paid: 0.
VisualGDB is a Microsoft Visual Studio plugin that integrates GNU tools (GCC, GDB) into the development environment.
Price: Free Size: 63.7 MB Version: 6.1r3 OS: Windows
Radare2 is a complete framework for binary analysis and reverse engineering.
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x64dbg is an open-source debugger for 64-bit and 32-bit Windows platforms.
Price: Free Size: 30.1 MB Version: 2026.05.27 OS: Windows
OllyDbg is an assembler-level debugger for Windows systems.
Price: Free Size: 0.945 MB Version: 1.10 OS: Windows
