Crash Dump Analysis

The Year of Debugging, 0×7D9, was a remarkable year for DumpAnalysis.org. Here is the list of achievements to report:

- Software Trace Analysis as a new discipline with its own set of patterns

- Unification of Memory Dump Analysis with Software Trace Analysis (DA+TA)

- New computer memory dump-based art movements: Opcodism and Physicalist Art

- Discovery of 3D computer memory visualization techniques

- Establishing Software Maintenance Institute

- Broadening software fault injection as Software Defect Construction discipline

- Establishing a new profession of a Software Defect Researcher

- Starting ambitious Dictionary of Debugging

- Publishing Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations book

- Publishing the first x86-free Windows debugging book: x64 Windows Debugging: Practical Foundations

- Establishing the new debugging magazine: Debugged! MZ/PE

- Publishing Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 3

- Cooperation with OpenTask to promote First Fault Software Problem Solving book

- Establishing Debugging Expert(s) Magazine Online

- Creating the first development process for debugging and software troubleshooting tools: RADII

- Publishing the first pattern-driven memory dump analysis troubleshooting methodology as a foundation for software debugging

- Proposal for an International Memory Analysts and Debuggers Day

- Almost completed Windows Debugging Notebook to be published soon

- The founder of DumpAnalysis.org (Dr. DebugLove) becomes a member of Citrix Systems Tweetrix Support Team

Now DumpAnalysis.org focuses on The Year of Dump Analysis, 0×7DA, as a foundation for the forthcoming debugging decade and reveals future plans this weekend.

I’m sure that many other organizations and individuals have no less remarkable accomplishments to report for 2009. I promise to track down and write about some of them in the forthcoming book: 

The Science of Dr. Watson: An Illustrated History of Debugging (ISBN: 978-1906717070)

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org + TraceAnalysis.org -

Some practical engineers asked me how do Debugged! MZ/PE magazine back covers look like from a birds eye view:

One engineer even commented that they look better and better (counterclockwise) :-) 

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

If you know any other please let us know. For example, MSDN is great too, there was also a Visual C++-oriented magazine I used to read in the past. May be it is still in print. I plan to make a wider perspective picture later on. Both pictured magazines (Debugged! MZ/PE and NT Insider) are mainly oriented towards unmanaged and native code respectively (the former with a timeless computer science slant) but Debugged! soon to cover native, virtualized, interpreted and managed code environments too and aims to become a “Complete Debugging Magazine” similar to kernel vs. user process vs. complete memory dump file differences.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Main topics of Debugged! MZ/PE magazine issues for June and September 2010:

Debugged! MZ/PE: Multiplatform Software Defects, June, 2010 (Paperback, ISBN: 978-1906717902)

Debugged! MZ/PE: Software Defect Visualization and Annotation, September, 2010 (Paperback, ISBN: 978-1906717919)

Here are draft front covers designed today:

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Completely mutated Richard Dawkins‘ quotation after listening to his latest book “The Greatest Show on Earth” and reading Fern Elsdon-Baker’s book “The Selfish Genius”:

“Memory dumps are facts”.

Dmitry Vostokov’s statement upon hearing “Evolution is a fact.”

No offence to Dawkins’ camp, watch out the publication of the next issue of Debugged! magazine about systematics and evolution of software defects:

Darwinian Debugging

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Finally, after the long delay, the issue is available in print on Amazon and through other sellers:

Debugged! MZ/PE: Software Tracing

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

The new last article was added yesterday evening to the long due September issue of Debugged! magazine:

Colorimetric Tracing: A Visual Approach to Tracking Function Calls

It can be found online:

debuggingexperts.com: September issue of Debugged! MZ/PE

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

The new article has been added to the free online version of Debugged! magazine (www.debuggingexpert.com or www.debuggingexperts.com):

Memory Dump and Trace Analysis: A Unified Pattern Approach

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

To commemorate 200 years since Darwin’s birth and 150 years since the publication of The Origin of Species, OpenTask plans to dedicate December, 2009 issue of Debugged! MZ/PE magazine to taxonomy and evolution of software defects and March, 2010 issue to multithreading (as natural selection).

Debugged! MZ/PE: Systematics and Evolution of Software Defects, December, 2009 (Paperback, ISBN: 978-1906717827)

Debugged! MZ/PE: Multithreading, March, 2010 (Paperback, ISBN: 978-1906717834)

Here are draft front covers designed during last weekend:

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

The best of artistic work commissioned by OpenTask to be published with annotations in the following book scheduled to open 2010, The Year of The Foundation of Debugging (Crash Dump Analysis):

Spikes, Hangs, Crashes, Leaks and Dumps of Imagination: The Art of the Debugging Art (ISBN: 978-1906717841)

Note: This is not a book about natural computer memory visualization.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Every PID has its twitter account. Processes emit short trace messages (STM) and others subscribe to them. This is the technical support of the future, the concept of SoftWeet ^(*):

www.SoftWeet.com

(*) to weet

to know; to wit (archaic)

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

I plan the following titles to be published in Q4:

- Debugged! MZ/PE: Software Tracing, September, 2009 (ISBN: 978-1906717797)
- Windows Debugging Notebook: Essential Concepts, WinDbg Commands and Tools (ISBN: 978-1906717001)
- Memory Dump Analysis Anthology, Volume 3 (ISBN: 978-1906717438 and 978-1906717445)
- Memory Dump Analysis Anthology: Color Supplement for Volumes 1-3 (ISBN: 978-1906717698)
- First Fault Software Problem Solving: A Guide for Engineers, Managers and Users (ISBN: 978-1906717421) by Dan Skwire
- Crash Dump Analysis for System Administrators and Support Engineers (Windows Edition)  (ISBN: 978-1906717025) 

The title of the latter book was slightly changed. After some time we realized that the same material is appropriate for support engineers as well.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Unable to choose between names Debugging Expert Magazine and Debugging Experts Magazine I decided to create a mirror:

Debugging Experts Magazine Online (www.DebuggingExperts.com)

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

I’m very pleased to announce the free online version of Debugged! MZ/PE magazine under the code name DEMO launched last night:

Debugging Expert Magazine Online (www.DebuggingExpert.com)

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Responding to numerous requests and suggestions I plan to make magazine interior excluding promotional vouchers available for free download. If someone needs covers including back covers where I put tips and tables to be used as posters or certification vouchers printed inside then they should buy the magazine from Amazon or other bookshops.

This initiative will be accompanied by a smart marketing trick that I plan to unveil in a few days together with the magazine website.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

This is the real photo of tracing experiments used for the front cover of September 2009 issue of Debugged! magazine:

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Finally, the front cover has materialized for this issue of Debugged! magazine:

Debugged! MZ/PE: Software Tracing (ISBN: 978-1906717797)

If you have an article idea or if you’d like to write an article for us please use the following contact form:

http://www.dumpanalysis.org/contact

The deadline for this issue is 25th of September.

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

This Sunday while drinking Turkish coffee (after 3 years of blogging) I was thinking about the new publishing year starting in September, the new year of reading (already started) and, in particular, about the cover of the forthcoming September issue of Debugged! MZ/PE magazine (to be revealed tonight).

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

Finally the issue is available on Amazon and through other sellers:

Debugged! MZ/PE: Modeling Software Defects

I’m now planning the September issue and post details later. 

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -

The second issue of the magazine was put into production today and should be available after one or two weeks on Amazon, B&N and other booksellers worldwide.

Title: Debugged! MZ/PE: Modeling Software Defects
Authors: Konstantin Chebotarev, Kapildev Ramlal, Dmitry Vostokov
ISBN: 1906717680
ISBN-13: 978-1906717681
Annotation: Welcome to the second issue of Debugged! MZ/PE magazine! It brings fault injection into new light and features articles discussing software defect construction via DLL injection, modeling CPU spikes and runaway exception processing. This issue also includes a memory dump analysis certification voucher. Back cover features WinDbg breakpoint and tracing command summary for easy desk reference. - Dmitry Vostokov - Editor-in-Chief

- Dmitry Vostokov @ DumpAnalysis.org -