# Debugging data format

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A '''debugging data format''' is a means of storing information about a compiled [computer program](/source/computer_program) for use by high-level [debugger](/source/debugger)s. Modern debugging data formats store enough information to allow source-level debugging.

High-level debuggers need information about variables, types, constants, subroutines and so on, so they can translate between machine-level storage and source language constructs. Such information can also be used by other software tools. The information must be generated by the [compiler](/source/compiler) and stored in the [executable](/source/executable) file or [dynamic library](/source/dynamic_library) by the linker.

Some [object file](/source/object_file) formats include debugging information, but others can use generic debugging data formats such as [stabs](/source/stabs) and [DWARF](/source/DWARF).

== List of debugging formats ==
* [stabs](/source/stabs)
* [COFF](/source/COFF)
* [Portable Executable](/source/Portable_Executable) (PE/COFF)
* [Relocatable Object Module Format](/source/Relocatable_Object_Module_Format) (OMF)
* [IEEE-695](/source/IEEE-695)
* [DWARF](/source/DWARF)

== See also ==
* [Debug symbol](/source/Debug_symbol)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite web |title=Introduction to the DWARF Debugging Format |author-first=Michael J. |author-last=Eager |date=April 2012 |orig-year=2006 |url=http://www.dwarfstd.org/doc/Debugging%20using%20DWARF-2012.pdf |access-date=2014-11-12 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181223004312/http://dwarfstd.org/doc/Debugging%20using%20DWARF-2012.pdf |archive-date=2018-12-23}} (NB. Concentrates on DWARF, but also discusses debugging formats in general, with an overview of all the major formats.)

Category:Computer file formats

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Debugging data format](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging_data_format) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debugging_data_format?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.