Editing Breakpoint (section)

{{Short description|Debugging method used in software development}}
{{for multi|the term in tennis|Break point|other uses}}
[[File:Eclipse suspended at breakpoint.png|thumb|The debugging interface of [[Eclipse (software)|Eclipse]] with a program suspended at a breakpoint. Panels with [[stack trace]] (upper left) and watched variables (upper right) can be seen.]]

In [[software development]], a '''breakpoint''' is an intentional stopping or pausing place in a [[computer program|program]], put in place for [[debugging]] purposes. It is also sometimes simply referred to as a '''pause'''.

More generally, a breakpoint is a means of acquiring knowledge about a program during its execution. During the [[Interrupt|interruption]], the [[programmer]] inspects the test [[System platform|environment]] ([[general-purpose register]]s, [[virtual memory|memory]], logs, [[Computer file|files]], etc.) to find out whether the program is functioning as expected. In practice, a breakpoint consists of one or more conditions that determine when a program's execution should be interrupted.