Re: Patch - Debug builds without optimization

Bruce Momjian <bruce(at)momjian(dot)us> writes:
> I have applied the attached patch to mention the debugger. OK?

> Server developers should consider using the configure options
> <option>--enable-cassert</> and <option>--enable-debug</> to enhance the
> ability to detect and debug server errors. They should also consider
> ! running configure with <literal>CFLAGS="-O0 -g"</> if using a debugger.

I still think this is basically useless. If we're going to mention the
topic at all, we should provide enough information to be helpful, which
this does not. Furthermore, it's concretely wrong in that it suggests
you need to say -g when --enable-debug already does that, and that it
fails to note that all this advice is gcc-specific.

I suggest wording along these lines:

When developing code inside the server, it's recommended to
use the configure options --enable-cassert, which turns on many
run-time error checks, and --enable-debug, which improves the
usefulness of debugging tools.

If you use gcc, it's best to build with an optimization level
of at least -O1, because using level -O0 disables some important
compiler warnings (such as use of an uninitialized variable).
However, nonzero optimization levels can complicate debugging
because stepping through the compiled code will usually not
match up one-to-one with source code lines. If you get confused
while trying to debug optimized code, recompile the specific
file(s) of interest with -O0. An easy way to do this with the
Unix makefiles is "make PROFILE=-O0 file.o".

regards, tom lane