Why Does My Program Crash Only in Release Mode and When Executed from the Command Line?

Debugging a Program Crashing Only in Release Build and Command Line Execution

Issue:

A program, particularly its test suite, crashes only when built in release mode and launched from the command line. Despite debugging efforts through trace messages, the exact point of crash remains elusive, possibly occurring within a destructor.

Analysis:

Based on experience, the crash is highly likely to be caused by an out-of-bounds array write. This is because the absence of the debugger's additional stack overhead may leave less room for overwrites.

Debugging Recommendations:

1. Check for Array Bounds Errors: Carefully examine all array access operations and ensure they are within the proper bounds.
2. Enable Stack Trace Output: Certain languages and operating systems provide options to enable stack trace output upon program termination. In Windows, consider using the "/Ox" compilation flag or the "SetUnhandledExceptionFilter" function to register a custom crash handler that prints stack traces.
3. Inspect Object Deallocation: The crash may occur within an object's destructor. Check the object's member variables and any destructors that may be called during its destruction.
4. Analyze Memory Behavior: Use tools like Valgrind or AddressSanitizer to detect memory access violations.
5. Test in Different Environments: Build and run the program in multiple environments (e.g., release vs. debug, command line vs. IDE, different operating systems) to rule out platform-specific issues.
6. Review Release Configuration: Check the release configuration settings to ensure that optimizations are not introducing unexpected behavior.

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