A Framework for Execution Monitoring in Icon

Execution monitors are widely used during software development for tasks that require an understanding of program behavior, such as debugging and profiling. The Icon programming language has been enhanced with a framework that supports execution monitoring. Under the enhanced translator and interpreter, neither source modification nor any special compiler command-line option is required in order to monitor an Icon program. Execution monitors are written in the source language, instead of the implementation language. Performance, portability, and detailed access to the monitored program’s state are achieved using a coroutine model and dynamic loading rather than the separate-process model employed by many conventional monitoring systems.