VStudio - Debug Mode vs. Release Mode and "Start without Debugging"

Question

I am working on a project with Visual Studio 2008.

There is a drop down that you can choose Debug / Release.
There is also a Start Without Debugging (CTRL + F5) option.

What happens if I choose Debug mode but start without debugging? Isn't it a conflict?

What is the relation between these two menus?

the question is similar to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/933739/what-is-difference-between-release-and-debug-modes-in-visual-studio — JAiro, Jun 23 '11 at 17:44

score 6 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:40

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Debug mode affects compilation; it disables optimizations and generates full debugging symbols.

Start Without Debugging simply runs the EXE normally, without a debugger attached. (as if you double-clicked it in Explorer)

answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:40

SLaks

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score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:42

These features are completely orthogonal.

The choice of build does(By default, you can change these settings separately and create new build targets):

The debug build generates debug informations, has IL optimizations disabled and the DEBUG conditional symbol defined
The release build doesn't generate debug informations, has IL optimizations enabled and the DEBUG symbol is not defined

Run vs Run without Debugger determines if the debugger gets attached on the started process. By default starting with debugger also disables JIT optimizations.

Thank you. How can I get the info programmatically if the application was started with or without debugging? — Ahmet Altun, Jun 23 '11 at 17:47

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:42

If you start without debugging, you will be running your project in VS localhost server outside debug mode. If you choose to Debug, the same thing will happen but you can step through your program using breakpoints, and check out the values of your variables during runtime and also view the memory management of them using VS cool debugging tools.

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:42

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It's Start Without Debugging. CTRL+F5 basically runs the executable (with no debugger) based on which one you've selected via the drop-down, that is, either the debug version or release version of your executable.

answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:42

Matt Davis

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score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 23 '11 at 17:46

My understanding is that start with debugging attaches the debugger, regardless of how your application is compiled. Start without debugging just runs the application normally, again regardless of how it is compiled.

I think you are confusing compilation and debugging in this case. You might compile it for x86 but the fact that it is x86 does not matter for debugging purposes.

score 0 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 06 '13 at 12:52

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I just realized that when u use Start Without Debugging it affects creation of files and work of breakpoints. neither creating files nor using breakpoints work. if you need these things to work use Debug option instead.

answered Mar 06 '13 at 12:52

lil

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VStudio - Debug Mode vs. Release Mode and "Start without Debugging"

6 Answers6