Step execution of release code / post-mortem debugging (VS/C++)

Question

Is there any sense to step-execute release code? I noticed that some lines of code are omitted, i.e. some method calls. Also variable preview doesn't show some variables and shows invalid (not real) values for some others, so it's all quite misleading.

I'm asking this question, because loading WinDbg crashdump file into Visual Studio brings the same stack and variables partial view as step-execution. Are there any way to improve crashdump analyze experience, except recompiling application without optimalizations?

Windows, Visual Studio 2005, unmanaged C++

Answer 1

Recompile just the file of interest without optimisations :)

In general:

• Switch to interleaved disassembly mode. Single-stepping through the disassembly will enable you to step into function calls that would otherwise be skipped over, and make inlined code more evident.
• Look for alternative ways of getting at values in variables the debugger is not able to directly show you. If they were passed in as arguments, look up the callstack - you will often find they are visible in the caller. If they were retrieved via getters from some object, examine that object; glance over the assembly generated by the code that calculates them to work out where they were stored; etc. If all else fails and disabling optimisations / adding a printf() distorts timings sufficiently to affect debugging, add a dummy global variable and set it to the value of interest on entry to the section of interest.