METHOD FOR SOFTWARE DEBUGGING VIA SIMULATED RE-EXECUTION OF A COMPUTER PROGRAM

An invention is provided for debugging a computer program. Program information is recorded in a trace buffer. The program information generally includes write accesses from the computer program and the execution path of the computer program. In addition, a memory image snapshot of at least a portion of memory being utilized by the computer program is captured. Simulated re-execution of the computer program then occurs by adjusting the state of the memory image snapshot based on the program information. Further, debugging logic can be inserted into a simulated re-execution at particular points in the computer program. In particular, the debugging logic does not change the trace buffer or the memory image snapshot, and as such, do not alter the captured sequence events being debugged.