Public domain memory debugging tools

Here is a short list of public domain memory debugging tools. They work wonderfully well: no code modification, only a relink (static or dynamic using LD_PRELOAD) is required.

• Memory debuggers based on code re-interpretation
  • Julian Seward's Valgrind, an open-source memory debugger for x86-linux.
    Valgrind was released in February 2002 and reached version 1.0 in July 2002. It operates by just-in-time translation of x86 code on Linux. The code must use at least one dynamic library. Except for a large execution slowdown, there is no real practical limitation. Highly recommended.
• "Malloc" debuggers
  • Electric Fence
    Malloc debugger. No code modification, reliable, easy to use. Likely to be already installed on Linux. Huge overhead.
  • ccmalloc
    Malloc debugger and profiler with leak detection. No code modification. Works very well.
  • dmalloc
  • mpatrol
  • njamd
  • mpr
  • glibc (i.e. Linux)
• Compiler based tools
  • gcc bounds-checking patches

Other lists:

• Jean-Philippe Martin's Memory Checkers Comparison
• Mozilla list (likely the most up-to-date with quite a few useful tips)
• Software Testing Resources on the Web
• an interesting Slashdot discussion

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