Editing Core dump (section)

== Uses ==
Core dumps can serve as useful debugging aids in several situations. On early standalone or [[batch processing|batch-processing]] systems, core dumps allowed a user to debug a program without monopolizing the (very expensive) computing facility for debugging; a printout could also be more convenient than debugging using [[front panel]] switches and lights.

On shared computers, whether time-sharing, batch processing, or server systems, core dumps allow off-line debugging of the [[operating system]], so that the system can go back into operation immediately.

Core dumps allow a user to save a crash for later or off-site analysis, or comparison with other crashes. For [[embedded system|embedded computers]], it may be impractical to support debugging on the computer itself, so analysis of a dump may take place on a different computer. Some operating systems such as early versions of [[Unix]] did not support attaching [[debugger]]s to running processes, so core dumps were necessary to run a debugger on a process's memory contents.

Core dumps can be used to capture data freed during [[dynamic memory allocation]] and may thus be used to retrieve information from a program that is no longer running. In the absence of an interactive debugger, the core dump may be used by an assiduous programmer to determine the error from direct examination.

Snap dumps are sometimes a convenient way for applications to record quick and dirty debugging output.