README

This is the repo for a paper on Moldable Exceptions accepted to Onward! 2024. The repo contains not only the LaTeX source code, but also GT examples and Lepiter pages of notes.

Preprint available on arXiv (PDF).

ArXiv DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2409.00465

ACM DOI: 10.1145/3689492.3690044

GT Installation

``` Metacello new repository: 'github://feenkcom/paper-moldable-exceptions:master/src'; baseline: 'PaperMoldableExceptions'; load.

BaselineOfPaperMoldableExceptions asClass loadLepiter.

```

Title

Moldable Exceptions

Authors

Andrei Chiş, Tudor Gîrba, Oscar Nierstrasz

Abstract

Debugging is hard. Interactive debuggers are mostly the same. They show you a stack, a way to sample the state of the stack, and, if the debugger is live, a way to step through execution. The standard interactive debugger for a general-purpose programming language provided by a mainstream IDE mostly offers a low-level interface in terms of generic language constructs to track down and fix bugs. A custom debugger, such as those developed for specific application domains, offers alternative interfaces more suitable to the specific execution context of the program being debugged. Custom debuggers offering contextual debugging views and actions can greatly improve our ability to reason about the current problem. Implementing such custom debuggers, however, is non-trivial, and poses a barrier to improving the debugging experience. In this paper we introduce "moldable exceptions", a lightweight mechanism to adapt a debugger's interface based on contextual information provided by a raised exception. We present, through a series of examples, how moldable exceptions can enhance a live programming environment.

BibTeX citation

@inproceedings{Chis24a, Annote = {internationalconference}, Author = {Andrei Chi\c{s} and Oscar Nierstrasz and Tudor G\^irba}, Booktitle = {Proceedings of Onward! 2024}, Keywords = {feenk-pub Girba Chis}, Title = {Moldable Exceptions}, Abstract = {Debugging is hard. Interactive debuggers are mostly the same. They show you a stack, a way to sample the state of the stack, and, if the debugger is live, a way to step through execution. The standard interactive debugger for a general-purpose programming language provided by a mainstream IDE mostly offers a low-level interface in terms of generic language constructs to track down and fix bugs. A custom debugger, such as those developed for specific application domains, offers alternative interfaces more suitable to the specific execution context of the program being debugged. Custom debuggers offering contextual debugging views and actions can greatly improve our ability to reason about the current problem. Implementing such custom debuggers, however, is non-trivial, and poses a barrier to improving the debugging experience. In this paper we introduce "moldable exceptions", a lightweight mechanism to adapt a debugger's interface based on contextual information provided by a raised exception. We present, through a series of examples, how moldable exceptions can enhance a live programming environment.}, Note = {to appear}, eprint = {2409.00465}, archivePrefix = {arXiv}, primaryClass = {cs.SE}, url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2409.00465}, scg-url = {http://scg.unibe.ch/archive/papers/Chis24aMoldableExceptions.pdf}, DOI = {10.48550/arXiv.2409.00465}, arxiv-DOI = {10.48550/arXiv.2409.00465}, acm-DOI = {10.1145/3689492.3690044}, Year = {2024} }