dape - Comprehensive Debug Adapter Client for Enhanced Emacs Debugging

Dape - Debug Adapter Protocol for Emacs

Dape is a tool designed to enhance debugging experience in Emacs. It serves as a client for the Debug Adapter Protocol, resembling the Language Server Protocol but focusing on debugging instead of code completions. This protocol provides a standard interface that connects with various debuggers, making it versatile for developers.

Features

Dape comes packed with several beneficial features:

Batteries Included Support: Offers configurations through dape-configs for various programming languages.
Log and Conditional Breakpoints: Enables you to set breakpoints that either log information or are conditionally triggered.
Variable Handling: Includes tools like variable explorer, watch, and hover features using eldoc for enhanced inspection of variable values.
REPL Support: Facilitates interaction with the debugged program.
User-friendly Interface: Mimics gdb-mi.el, including a memory editor using hexl.
Integration with Compile Tools: Seamlessly works with existing Emacs compile functionalities.
Minimal Dependencies: Requires no external dependencies beyond core Emacs components.

Configuration

Dape offers predefined configurations suitable for different programming languages, detailed in dape-configs. For added flexibility, individual users can create custom configurations to suit their specific project needs.

Example Configuration

To utilize Dape, users can install it using emacs-lisp instructions, which include enabling global bindings for breakpoints and setting buffer window arrangements. Users can choose between right or gud style for informational buffers.

Differences with dap-mode

While similar to dap-mode, Dape differentiates itself by opting not to use launch.json files. Instead, it offers configurations within Emacs itself and encourages the use of dir-locals and dape-command. It eschews special variables, opting for functions and resolved variables before the session begins.

Supported Debug Adapters

Dape supports a wide array of debug adapters, making it adaptable for many programming languages:

JavaScript: Utilizes vscode-js-* with installation instructions available on GitHub.
Go, C, C++, and Rust: Compatible with dlv, GDB, codelldb, and other tools.
Python, Dart, C#, Ruby, Java, PHP, OCaml, Bash: Supports adapters like debugpy, flutter, netcoredbg, rdbg, and others.
Additional Adapters: New configurations are readily welcome from the community.

Contribution and Performance

Dape follows GNU Emacs's copyright assignment policy for contributions. Performance can be enhanced by adjusting Emacs's gc-cons-threshold and read-process-output-max settings, with expert recommendations for different operating systems.

Bugs and Issues

Before reporting issues, users are encouraged to activate debugging and share relevant logs. The most stable version is available on ELPA, with the master branch primarily for development.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to João Távora for their invaluable input on jsonrpc, which has significantly contributed to Dape's development.

Overall, Dape represents a robust debugging solution for Emacs users, marrying modern debugging protocols with the classic Emacs environment, and providing a user-friendly and powerful tool for developers.