How to trace the execution flow of a Go program during debugging?

To trace the execution flow of a Go program during debugging, you can use the built-in debugger called delve. It provides various commands to step through your code and inspect variables.

Here's a step-by-step approach:

  1. Install delve by running the following command:

    go get -u github.com/go-delve/delve/cmd/dlv
  2. Build your program with debugging information enabled using the -gcflags flag:

    go build -gcflags "all=-N -l" <your-program>
  3. Start debugging with delve by running the following command:

    dlv debug <your-program>
  4. The debugger will start, and you'll see a (dlv) prompt. You can run various commands to trace the execution flow:

    • To start or continue running the program, use the continue command (c for short).
    • To step over the next line of code without diving into function calls, use the next command (n for short).
    • To step into the next function call, use the step command (s for short).
    • To step out of the current function call and return to the caller, use the stepout command (so for short).
    • To set breakpoints at specific lines or functions, use the break command (b for short).
    • To print the value of a specific variable, use the print command (p for short), followed by the variable name.
    • To display the current line of code, use the list command (l for short).
  5. You can keep using these commands to control the execution flow and inspect variables as you debug your Go program.

Note: delve has many more advanced features and commands that can be used for more complex debugging scenarios. You can refer to the delve documentation for more in-depth details: https://github.com/go-delve/delve