|
JVM 2001 Abstract
The HotSpot™ Serviceability Agent: An Out-of-Process High Level
Debugger for a Java™ Virtual Machine
Kenneth Russell and Lars Bak, Sun Microsystems
Abstract
The HotSpot™ Serviceability Agent (SA) is a set
of APIs for the Java™ programming language which model the state
of Sun Microsystems' Java HotSpot Virtual Machine. Unlike most
previous debugging systems for dynamic languages which assume a
"cooperative" model in which the target process runs code to assist
in the debugging process, the SA requires no code to be run in the
target VM. Instead, it uses primitives like symbol lookup and reading
of process memory to implement its functionality. The SA can
transparently examine either live processes or core files, making it
suitable for debugging both the VM itself and Java programs in
production. We describe the design and implementation of the SA,
comparing it to other debugging systems for both statically compiled
and dynamic languages, and illustrate future directions for this
architecture.
- View the full text of this paper in
HTML form, and
PDF form.
- If you need the latest Adobe Acrobat Reader, you can download it from Adobe's site.
- To become a USENIX Member, please see our Membership Information.
|
Need help? Use our Contacts page.
