Fast track Debugging using Dependent Breakpoint in Visual Studio 2022

You can Fast track Debugging using Dependent Breakpoint in Visual Studio 2022. A breakpoint notifies the Visual Studio debugger where and when to pause the execution of the program. Using breakpoint is one of the most common and basic steps to start debugging for your code. Visual Studio has several types of breakpoints such as Conditional breakpoints, Action Breakpoints, etc. You can leverage them depending on the debugging Situation. Visual Studio 2022 introduce another great addition called Dependent breakpoint. Dependent Breakpoint pauses the debugger when another breakpoint is hit for which it has mapped as a dependent.

This can tremendously help to debug especially when you are debugging a scenario where you need to debug based on several conditions. In such cases, instead of setting up multiple breakpoints, it will make more sense to have them configured as a dependent.

Seeting Up Dependent Breakpoint in Visual Studio 2022

You can set the dependent breakpoint from the Breakpoint Dialog Window > Select “Only Enable when the following Breakpoint is Hit“

Once you enable the Options, You need to select for which Breakpoint you are making it dependent.

Once this is configured, the Indicator of the Breakpoint will change and you will have tooltip information that provides the details on the dependent breakpoint.

Did you know you can call a method when a breakpoint is hit?

Combining the Conditional Breakpoint with Dependent Breakpoint

Conditional Breakpoint in Visual Studio is a great way to optimize the debugging time and pause the execution only when the condition is satisfied.  Along with the normal condition within conditional breakpoint in visual studio, we can call methods from the condition field, and based on the return value debugger will stop at the breakpoint. 

Read More about Conditional Breakpoint: Use Conditional Breakpoints with Methods Return Value in Visual Studio 2015 – Daily .NET Tips (dailydotnettips.com)

With the help of Conditional Breakpoint, you can optimize the debugging boundary much closer and plug it in using Dependent breakpoint.

To summarize, Dependent Breakpoint is a great addition to Visual Studio that can fast-track your debugging. Give it a try!