Re: [PATCH] gdb: add tutorial command

[Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>]

> From: Guinevere Larsen <guinevere@redhat.com>
> Cc: Guinevere Larsen <guinevere@redhat.com>
> Date: Mon,  1 Dec 2025 14:08:19 -0300
> 
> Before this commit, there is little way for a new user to learn how to
> use GDB on their own.  The documentation contains an example session,
> but that isn't contained in GDB itself, and the "help" and "apropos"
> commands exist, but they aren't the best to really teach what GDB can
> do, only to describe commands on their own.
> 
> This commit changes this by introducing a command called "tutorial",
> which takes a page out of common design from the last few decades and
> provides a self-contained tutorial for users, walking them through a
> simple bug in C code, and explaining several commands in context.

Thanks.  It's a very good idea to have an interactive tutorial, but I
suggest we discuss a few alternatives for implementing it before
diving into the details.

First, writing this command in Python means that GDB without Python
will not have a tutorial, which is IMO a pity.  Is it so complicated
to have this implemented in C++ instead?  The text and the basic
script of the tutorial session could be on a text file that code
accesses when the tutorial is running, so that only the necessary
stuff needs to be in code.

Next, I'm not sure we need to compile a program for this purpose.  We
could use the GDB executable itself instead: that would allow us to
show the basic commands without the need for the user to have a
compiler and a working development environment to go with it.

Also, a tutorial doesn't have to teach people how to debug, it could
only teach them the important GDB commands to use for debugging.
Doing both makes the tutorial more complex because it teaches two
non-trivial subjects instead of just one.

What do others think?

> diff --git a/gdb/NEWS b/gdb/NEWS
> index 01c998f4ea0..4543404d28a 100644
> --- a/gdb/NEWS
> +++ b/gdb/NEWS
> @@ -59,6 +59,10 @@ maintenance test-remote-args ARGS
>    Test splitting and joining of inferior arguments ARGS as they would
>    be split and joined when being passed to a remote target.
>  
> +tutorial
> +  Guided example session with a generated C file, to teach an entirely
> +  new user how to use GDB for basic debugging.
> +
>  * Changed commands

This part is okay.  Should we describe this in the manual as well?

Reviewed-By: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>