[PaulDavisThe1st]

gdb) watch my_ptr

what does this mean? watch when the value at the address given by my_ptr changes, or watch when the value of my_ptr changes (i.e. it is modified to point to a different location) ?

gdb) watch * my_ptr

Ah ... now it's clear what is meant.

gdb) watch 0xfeedface

hmm, now 0xfeedface is not a variable but literally an address. But wait, is it? What does this mean? Watch the value at memory location 0xfeedface? But that's totally inconsistent with the semantics of "watch my_ptr". So,

gdb) watch * 0xfeedface

and once again, no ambiguity over what is going on and consistent syntax.

As for you other complaints, I've been programming for about 33 years in C and C++, and I don't recall ever needing to use a hexdump inside the debugger or the disassemble command. Which is not to say that they're not important for some work, but they are also not important for all work.

[mormegil]

Wasn't that _exactly_ the OP's point? That GDB is a fine C debugger but its logic and UX choices do not make much sense for debugging assembly code (e.g. there are no asterisks in assembly addresses, so no consistency there, etc.).

[tom_]

Names of locations in assembly language are typically constants, similar to global arrays in C. There's no my_ptr, as such; there's an address, and my_ptr is its name. When you watch my_ptr, you want to monitor what's at that address - ``watch *my_ptr'', in gdb terms.

Not the end of the world, just annoying.

[PaulDavisThe1st]

It seems that people read my comment as sarcastic. It wasn't. I was trying to make the point you're making.

[mhh__]

I think GDB is an example of a program which should've been designed around a kind of inverse Greenspun's tenth rule principle i.e. vague semantics and weird syntax so just build a lisp from the start to control it.

[secondcoming]

> Ah ... now it's clear what is meant.

Is it? I can't tell if your post has a sarcastic tone or not!

[PaulDavisThe1st]

not sarcastic.