Setting Breakpoints

A breakpoint is a flag in the source code that tells the debugger to stop execution of the program. When your program stops on a breakpoint, you can examine the value of variables, single-step through your program, examine the state of your program, and so on.

The Source Editor indicates a breakpoint on a line with red highlighting and with an annotation in the left margin. The following table describes the debugging annotations.

Annotation Description
Breakpoint iconBreakpoint
Disabled breakpoint icon groupDisabled breakpoint
Multiple breakpoint icon iconMultiple breakpoints
Conditional breakpoint iconConditional breakpoint
Disabled conditional breakpoint icon groupDisabled conditional breakpoint
Program counter iconProgram counter
Program counter and one breakpoint iconProgram counter and one breakpoint
Program counter and multiple breakpoints iconProgram counter and multiple breakpoints
Call siteThe call site or place in the source code from which the current call on the call stack was made

The types of breakpoints that is available for you to set is dependent upon the debugger that you are using. For example, if you are using the Java 2 debugger, you can set a breakpoint on a specific line number, method name, exception, class, thread, or variable. You can manage breakpoints from within the Breakpoints view in the Debugger window.

When you save a program, the IDE saves each breakpoint. The next time you open the program, the breakpoints appear exactly as you set them.

For more information on setting a breakpoint, see:

Setting Java Breakpoints
Modifying Breakpoint Properties
Viewing the Source for a Line Breakpoint
Enabling or Disabling a Breakpoint
Deleting a Breakpoint
Breakpoints View

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