I've had the opportunity to work with Xpeditor, IBM Debug Tool, and XDC. They all do a good job. I use XDC now, almost daily, and it's what I'd recommend to assembler developers.
I really liked Debug Tool a lot, but it's complicated to set up and difficult to learn (at least in my experience a few years ago). But it supports HLLs very well. In fact assembler is obviously not its focus. It does however integrate with RDZ, or it can operate as a standalone VTAM/3270 app. XDC however has the ability to operate in "unusual" situations, like multi-tasking, key-switching, AR-mode, and other situations that other debuggers can't handle. So it's got to be #1 for software vendors. Notwithstanding Jim Mulder's situation. Somewhat like particle physics, below a certain point, you cannot observe the behavior without affecting it (and vice versa). Also, I have to think debugger developers must get splitting headaches doing recursive debugging :-). sas On Fri, May 22, 2015 at 12:51 AM, Jim Mulder <[email protected]> wrote: > > What debug tool are you using for debugging your assembler programs? > > Mostly, SVC dumps, Stand-alone dumps, and IPCS > Sometimes, VM. > Occasionally, TSO TEST. > > Since "my assembler programs" is mainly the guts of the operating system, > that limits my choices a bit. > > Jim Mulder z/OS System Test IBM Corp. Poughkeepsie, NY > -- sas
