JNI Debugging Using TotalView

Debug Native Code called from within a Java process running in an IDE

Developers who work with Java don't have to give up the performance of C/C++ or rewrite every last bit of code. For some projects it makes more sense to use the JNI Java Native Interface mechanism and call C/C++ functions (which might even wrap fortran functions) directly from within their Java code.

Java IDEs and Java debuggers aren't much help in tracking down bugs that might occur at the boundary between managed code and native code, or that occur deep within native code libraries. TotalView can however be used to shed light into such corners of complex applications. TotalView makes it really easy to attach to already running jobs, to save breakpoints between sessions, and to see what is happening within multithreaded processes. As detailed in "JNI Debugging Using TotalView" these features make TotalView a very easy way to "mix in" native code debugging with an existing IDE or Java Debugging solution.

The strategy outlined in this paper is a great way for developers currently using TotalView to debug native libraries within Java to move forward and pick up the latest and greatest features in both their IDE and the debugger.