SDL_TriggerBreakpoint(3)

💖 SDL_TriggerBreakpoint(3) — the "hey bestie, pause for a sec" macro 💖

okay so this is a page from the SDL3 FUNCTIONS collection, and it's about one tiny macro that is literally just out here asking your debugger to stop and look at me. no cap.

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✨ NAME ✨

SDL_TriggerBreakpoint — attempt to tell an attached debugger to pause.

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <SDL3/SDL_assert.h>

#define SDL_TriggerBreakpoint() TriggerABreakpointInAPlatformSpecificManner

that's it. that's the whole thing. she's small but she's mighty 💅

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🌸 DESCRIPTION 🌸

so like, the vibe here is: your app can programmatically halt ("break") the debugger, exactly as if the debugger had hit a breakpoint. that way the dev (you, bestie) gets to stop everything mid-run and examine program state, etc. it's giving "freeze, let me look at you" 🦋

and here's the part that lowkey matters: this is a macro — not a function — and that's on purpose. the whole reason is so the debugger breaks on the source code line that used SDL_TriggerBreakpoint, and not somewhere in some random guts of SDL. SDL_assert uses this macro for the exact same reason. iconic behavior, honestly. ✨

⚠️ bestie, real talk for a second: if the program is not running under a debugger, SDL_TriggerBreakpoint will likely terminate the app, possibly without warning. no popup, no "are you sure", just 💀. so like, know what you're doing, okay?

🙈 and if the current platform isn't supported, this macro is left undefined. periodt.

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🧚 THREAD SAFETY 🧚

it is safe to call this macro from any thread. yes, any. go off, multi-threaded queen 👑

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⭐ AVAILABILITY ⭐

this macro is available since SDL 3.2.0. so if you're on something older... she wasn't born yet, sorry babe 😭

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and that's the whole page, fr fr — short, sweet, and fully capable of nuking your process if you call her at the wrong time.

this lil' breakdown came to you courtesy of Simple Directmedia Layer, version SDL 3.4.18, dated alongside the one and only SDL_TriggerBreakpoint(3) manpage. stay safe, stay breaking (on purpose), and don't forget to attach the debugger first 🫶💖✨