[xroche]

Isn't -g3 sufficient ? ("Level 3 includes extra information, such as all the macro definitions present in the program. Some debuggers support macro expansion when you use -g3."). [Note: I found -g3 to be extremely costly, but I guess everything has a cost...]

[sltkr]

Costly in what sense? Compilation time? Binary size?

[xroche]

Binary size! (in my base separated .dbg files were HUGE, compared to the .so files). I don't think it has any impact on performances however (especially as the debug information is put in a separate ELF section, either in a separate file, or mapped but "cold" [ie. not live in memory as the runtime does not touch it])