The Microsoft Visual Studio Debugger is a debugger that ships along with all versions of Microsoft Visual Studio. This debugger owes much of its feel and functionality to CodeView, a standalone, text-based debugger that shipped with Microsoft Visual C++ version 1.5 and earlier.
More advanced features of the most recent versions of this debugger include:
- Full symbol and source integration.
- Attaching and Detaching to and from processes.
- Integrated debugging across programs written in both .NET and native Windows languages (calls from C# to C++, for example).
- Remote machine debugging.
- Debugging ASP.NET Web Services.
- Standard as well as more advanced breakpoint features, including conditional, address, data breakpoints.
- Many ways of viewing program state and data, including multiple watch windows, threads, call stack, and modules.
- Scriptability or the ability to control via a macro or scripting language. Any language which can talk to COM can be used.
- Edit and continue support, enabling source code change and recompilation without having to restart the program (32 bit applications only).
- Local and remote Debugging of SQL stored procedures on supported versions of Microsoft SQL Server
The main shortcoming of the Visual Studio Debugger is its inability to trace into kernel-mode code. Kernel-mode debugging of Windows is generally performed by using WinDbg, KD, or SoftICE.