Section 4:
Debugging and Optimizing Performance

Section 4 teaches the reader how to make effective use of the many debug and profiling tools that Linux has to offer in order to detect problems and identify bottlenecks. Chapter 19 focuses solely on the traditional approach of watching code execution through a debugger, which in Linux's case is the GNU Debugger (GDB). Chapter 20 examines various profilers and tracers, beginning with top then moving on to perf, until eventually progressing all the way down to strace.

This part of the book comprises the following chapters:

• Chapter 19, Debugging with GDB
• Chapter 20, Profiling and Tracing
• Chapter 21, Real-Time Programming