For reference, I am a JavaScript developer learning C++. The browser is a pretty

Question

For reference, I am a JavaScript developer learning C++. The browser is a pretty powerful debugger, and I can easily place a breakpoint in my code, hover over a variable or expression and get the value of that expression. Is this even possible in C++ or am I in a different world entirely?

I'm starting to write a bit of C++ code for an online course, and debugging with Code::Blocks gives me very opaque information. For example, I see stuff like this: 0x8049bc3 push   ebp in the 'watches' window. Even if I write something like int foo = 3;, I have found no way of telling that foo is 3 while I'm stepping through my code. Am I missing something?

Explanation / Answer

You need to build a debug version of your program:

Make sure that the project is compiled with the -g (debugging symbols) compiler option on, and the -s (strip symbols) option off. This ensures that the executable has debug symbols included. Compiler optimization switches should be turned off, stripping symbols (-s) must be turned off.

C++ compiles into machine code, where variables are just memory addresses. Symbols, such as variable names, can be appended to the executable by using appropriate compiler flags.

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