Debugging Hylo
Providing Debugging Support to a Modern, Natively-Compiled Programming Language
T. Măgirescu (TU Delft - Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science)
M.A. Costea – Mentor (TU Delft - Programming Languages)
J.S. Reinders – Mentor (TU Delft - Programming Languages)
Harm Griffioen – Graduation committee member (TU Delft - Cyber Security)
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Abstract
Debugging is a fundamental part of software development, yet adding debugger support to new programming languages remains a complex and underexplored challenge. This report presents the design and implementation of source-level debugging for Hylo, a new systems programming language that emphasises generic programming and mutable value semantics. To achieve this, we extend the Hylo compiler to emit DWARF debug information, enabling seamless integration with the LLDB debugger. Our approach is incremental and guided by the behaviour of the Clang C++ compiler, allowing us to support Hylo core language features, such as variables, functions, user-defined types, and generics. We also identify and analyse key limitations, including challenges in representing Hylo's fine-grained variable lifetimes and projections, enabling evaluation of complex expressions in LLDB, and supporting Hylo's dynamic types (i.e., existentials). Beyond Hylo, this work aims to outline a general, reusable methodology for equipping new programming languages with modern debugging capabilities, improving their usability and adoption.