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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
10`LLVM Project <https://llvm.org>`_, such as the Clang expression parser and
11LLVM disassembler.
12
13LLDB is the default debugger in Xcode on macOS and supports debugging C,
14Objective-C and C++ on the desktop and iOS devices and simulator.
15
16All of the code in the LLDB project is available under the
17`"Apache 2.0 License with LLVM exceptions"`_.
18
19.. _"Apache 2.0 License with LLVM exceptions": https://llvm.org/docs/DeveloperPolicy.html#new-llvm-project-license-framework
20
21Using LLDB
22----------
23
24For an introduction into the LLDB command language, head over to the `LLDB
25Tutorial <https://lldb.llvm.org/use/tutorial.html>`_. For users already familiar
26with GDB there is a cheat sheet listing common tasks and their LLDB equivalent
27in the `GDB to LLDB command map <https://lldb.llvm.org/use/map.html>`_.
28
29There are also multiple resources on how to script LLDB using Python: the
30:doc:`use/python-reference` is a great starting 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, ARM, AArch64, PPC64le, s390x
76* FreeBSD user-space debugging for i386, x86_64, ARM, AArch64, MIPS64, PPC
77* NetBSD user-space debugging for i386 and x86_64
78* Windows user-space debugging for i386, x86_64, ARM and AArch64 (*)
79
80(*) Support for Windows is under active development. Basic functionality is
81expected to work, with functionality improving rapidly. ARM and AArch64 support
82is more experimental, with more known issues than the others.
83
84Support for the following architectures is in active development. For their
85current state, follow the links to their respective issues:
86
87* `RISC-V <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues/55383>`_
88* `LoongArch <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues/112693>`_
89
90Get Involved
91------------
92
93Check out the LLVM source-tree with git and find the sources in the `lldb`
94subdirectory:
95
96::
97
98  $ git clone https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project.git
99
100Note that LLDB generally builds from top-of-trunk using CMake and Ninja.
101Additionally it builds:
102
103* on macOS with a :ref:`generated Xcode project <CMakeGeneratedXcodeProject>`
104* on Linux and FreeBSD with Clang and libstdc++/libc++
105* on NetBSD with GCC/Clang and libstdc++/libc++
106* on Windows with a generated project for VS 2017 or higher
107
108See the :doc:`LLDB Build Page <resources/build>` for build instructions.
109
110Discussions about LLDB should go to the `LLDB forum
111<https://discourse.llvm.org/c/subprojects/lldb>`__ or the ``lldb`` channel on
112the `LLVM Discord server <https://discord.com/invite/xS7Z362>`__.
113
114For contributions follow the
115`LLVM contribution process <https://llvm.org/docs/Contributing.html>`__. Commit
116messages are automatically sent to the `lldb-commits
117<http://lists.llvm.org/mailman/listinfo/lldb-commits>`__ mailing list.
118
119See the :doc:`Projects page <resources/projects>` if you are looking for some
120interesting areas to contribute to lldb.
121
122.. toctree::
123   :hidden:
124   :maxdepth: 1
125   :caption: Using LLDB
126
127   use/tutorial
128   use/map
129   use/formatting
130   use/variable
131   use/symbolication
132   use/symbols
133   use/remote
134   use/intel_pt
135   use/ondemand
136   use/aarch64-linux
137   use/symbolfilejson
138   use/troubleshooting
139   use/links
140   Man Page <man/lldb>
141
142.. toctree::
143   :hidden:
144   :maxdepth: 1
145   :caption: Scripting LLDB
146
147   use/python
148   use/python-reference
149   Python API <python_api>
150   Python Extensions <python_extensions>
151
152
153.. toctree::
154   :hidden:
155   :maxdepth: 1
156   :caption: Developing LLDB
157
158   resources/overview
159   resources/contributing
160   resources/build
161   resources/test
162   resources/qemu-testing
163   resources/debugging
164   resources/fuzzing
165   resources/sbapi
166   resources/dataformatters
167   resources/formatterbytecode
168   resources/extensions
169   resources/lldbgdbremote
170   resources/lldbplatformpackets
171   resources/caveats
172   resources/projects
173   resources/lldbdap
174   resources/addinglanguagesupport
175   Public C++ API <https://lldb.llvm.org/cpp_reference/namespacelldb.html>
176   Private C++ API <https://lldb.llvm.org/cpp_reference/index.html>
177
178.. toctree::
179   :hidden:
180   :maxdepth: 1
181   :caption: External Links
182
183   Source Code <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project>
184   Releases <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/releases>
185   Discord <https://discord.com/channels/636084430946959380/636732809708306432>
186   Discussion Forums <https://discourse.llvm.org/c/subprojects/lldb/8>
187   Developer Policy <https://llvm.org/docs/DeveloperPolicy.html>
188   Bug Reports <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/issues?q=is%3Aissue+label%3Alldb+is%3Aopen>
189   Code Reviews <https://github.com/llvm/llvm-project/pulls?q=is%3Apr+label%3Alldb+is%3Aopen>
190