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1.. title:: LLDB Homepage
2
3The LLDB Debugger
4=================
5
6Welcome to the LLDB documentation!
7
8LLDB is a next generation, high-performance debugger. It is built as a set of
9reusable components which highly leverage existing libraries in the larger LLVM
10Project, such as the Clang expression parser and LLVM disassembler.
11
12LLDB is the default debugger in Xcode on macOS and supports debugging C,
13Objective-C and C++ on the desktop and iOS devices and simulator.
14
15All of the code in the LLDB project is available under the
16`"Apache 2.0 License with LLVM exceptions"`_.
17
18.. _"Apache 2.0 License with LLVM exceptions": https://llvm.org/docs/DeveloperPolicy.html#new-llvm-project-license-framework
19
20Using LLDB
21----------
22
23For an introduction into the LLDB command language, head over to the `LLDB
24Tutorial <https://lldb.llvm.org/use/tutorial.html>`_. For users already familiar
25with GDB there is a cheat sheet listing common tasks and their LLDB equivalent
26in the `GDB to LLDB command map <https://lldb.llvm.org/use/map.html>`_.
27
28There are also multiple resources on how to script LLDB using Python `Python
29Reference <https://lldb.llvm.org/use/python-reference.html>`_ is a great
30starting point for that.
31
32Compiler Integration Benefits
33-----------------------------
34
35LLDB converts debug information into Clang types so that it can
36leverage the Clang compiler infrastructure. This allows LLDB to support the
37latest C, C++, Objective-C and Objective-C++ language features and runtimes in
38expressions without having to reimplement any of this functionality. It also
39leverages the compiler to take care of all ABI details when making functions
40calls for expressions, when disassembling instructions and extracting
41instruction details, and much more.
42
43The major benefits include:
44
45- Up to date language support for C, C++, Objective-C
46- Multi-line expressions that can declare local variables and types
47- Utilize the JIT for expressions when supported
48- Evaluate expression Intermediate Representation (IR) when JIT can't be used
49
50Reusability
51-----------
52
53The LLDB debugger APIs are exposed as a C++ object oriented interface in a
54shared library. The lldb command line tool links to, and uses this public API.
55On macOS the shared library is exposed as a framework named LLDB.framework,
56and Unix systems expose it as lldb.so. The entire API is also then exposed
57through Python script bindings which allow the API to be used within the LLDB
58embedded script interpreter, and also in any python script that loads the
59lldb.py module in standard python script files. See the Python Reference page
60for more details on how and where Python can be used with the LLDB API.
61
62Sharing the LLDB API allows LLDB to not only be used for debugging, but also
63for symbolication, disassembly, object and symbol file introspection, and much
64more.
65
66Platform Support
67----------------
68
69LLDB is known to work on the following platforms, but ports to new platforms
70are welcome:
71
72* macOS debugging for i386, x86_64 and AArch64
73* iOS, tvOS, and watchOS simulator debugging on i386, x86_64 and AArch64
74* iOS, tvOS, and watchOS device debugging on ARM and AArch64
75* Linux user-space debugging for i386, x86_64 and PPC64le
76* FreeBSD user-space debugging for i386 and x86_64
77* Windows user-space debugging for i386 (*)
78
79(*) Support for Windows is under active development. Basic functionality is
80expected to work, with functionality improving rapidly.
81
82Get Involved
83------------
84
85Check out the LLVM source-tree with git and find the sources in the `lldb`
86subdirectory:
87
88::
89
90  > git clone https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project.git
91
92Note that LLDB generally builds from top-of-trunk using CMake and Ninja.
93Additionally it builds:
94
95* on macOS with a :ref:`generated Xcode project <CMakeGeneratedXcodeProject>`
96* on Linux and FreeBSD with Clang and libstdc++/libc++
97* on NetBSD with GCC/Clang and libstdc++/libc++
98* on Windows with a generated project for VS 2017 or higher
99
100See the :doc:`LLDB Build Page <resources/build>` for build instructions.
101
102Discussions about LLDB should go to the `lldb-dev
103<http://lists.llvm.org/mailman/listinfo/lldb-dev>`__ mailing list. Commit
104messages are automatically sent to the `lldb-commits
105<http://lists.llvm.org/mailman/listinfo/lldb-commits>`__ mailing list , and
106this is also the preferred mailing list for patch submissions.
107
108See the :doc:`Projects page <status/projects>` if you are looking for some
109interesting areas to contribute to lldb.
110
111.. toctree::
112   :hidden:
113   :maxdepth: 1
114   :caption: Project
115
116   status/goals
117   status/features
118   status/status
119   status/projects
120   status/releases
121
122.. toctree::
123   :hidden:
124   :maxdepth: 1
125   :caption: Use & Extension
126
127   use/tutorial
128   use/map
129   use/formatting
130   use/variable
131   use/symbolication
132   use/symbols
133   use/python
134   use/python-reference
135   use/remote
136   use/qemu-testing
137   use/troubleshooting
138   use/links
139
140.. toctree::
141   :hidden:
142   :maxdepth: 1
143   :caption: Development
144
145   resources/contributing
146   resources/build
147   resources/test
148   resources/bots
149   resources/caveats
150
151
152.. toctree::
153   :hidden:
154   :maxdepth: 1
155   :caption: Design
156
157   design/overview
158   design/reproducers
159   design/structureddataplugins
160   design/sbapi
161
162.. toctree::
163   :hidden:
164   :maxdepth: 1
165   :caption: Reference
166
167   Public Python API <https://lldb.llvm.org/python_reference/index.html>
168   Public C++ API <https://lldb.llvm.org/cpp_reference/namespacelldb.html>
169   Private C++ API <https://lldb.llvm.org/cpp_reference/index.html>
170   Man Page <man/lldb>
171
172.. toctree::
173   :hidden:
174   :maxdepth: 1
175   :caption: External Links
176
177   Source Code <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project>
178   Code Reviews <https://reviews.llvm.org>
179   Bug Reports <https://bugs.llvm.org/>
180