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Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:23:00 -0000
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From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
To: Jim Blandy <jimb@codesourcery.com>
CC: eager@eagercon.com, stanshebs@earthlink.net, gdb@sources.redhat.com
In-reply-to: <m3sl8f6eab.fsf@codesourcery.com> (message from Jim Blandy on 	Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:10:36 -0700)
Subject: Re: What's an annex? stratum?
Reply-to: Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
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> Cc: Stan Shebs <stanshebs@earthlink.net>,  gdb@sources.redhat.com
> From: Jim Blandy <jimb@codesourcery.com>
> Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:10:36 -0700
> 
> Well, let me try again to say what I meant: if you're new to GDB, you
> should not start by reading gdbint.texinfo.  Instead, start by reading
> and grepping, and then experiment by debugging GDB with itself.

That may be the only practical way today, but IMO it's a terribly
inefficient way.  GDB's sources is a hodgepodge of many disparate and
not always related parts: different target-specific back-ends that
have no relation whatsoever, semi-obsolete APIs used by a couple of
rotting targets, features relevant only to remote debugging that are
not clearly separated from the native pieces, etc.  For the
uninitiated, finding one's way in all this maze of twisted little
passages all alike, without some minimal guidance, is a very hard job,
to say the least.

> I'm even a little skeptical about the value of internals documentation
> at all.

I cannot disagree more.  A well written, well indexed internal
documentation can be a real help in studying an unfamiliar program of
GDB's complexity.