EDC: Linux coders still not thrilled with debuggers
Apr 15, 2005 — by Henry Kingman — from the LinuxDevices Archive — viewsDebuggers are indispensable for the vast majority of Linux developers, yet developers are not completely satisfied with debuggers available today, according to an Evans Data Corp. (EDC) survey of 419 Linux developers. The finding resembles that from a similar EDC study last year.
According to EDC, 76 percent of those polled described debuggers as either “critical” (31.2 percent) or “very important” (44.6 percent).
Debuggers have some importance for 92 percent of Linux developers
Meanwhile, only 41 percent rate current debuggers “excellent” (11.7 percent) or “very good” (29.3 percent), while 35.5 percent say they are merely “adequate.” Some 17.9 percent of respondents say debuggers “need work.”
Debuggers need work, according to 17.9 percent of respondentsEDC's Linux developer survey from 2004 showed similar results, with some 91 percent of developers describing debuggers are “critical,” “important,” or “somewhat important,” while only 20 percent described them as “excellent.”
Evans notes that there is an opportunity in the tools market, because, “it is obvious that developers would welcome better debuggers than what they are currently using (which is likely to be GDB, the GNU debugger).”
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