Compact C Type Format in the GNU Toolchain

Explore the Compact C Type Format (CTF) in the GNU Toolchain through this 40-minute conference talk from linux.conf.au 2022. Dive into CTF's purpose, implementation, and future developments as speakers Indu Bhagat and Nick Alcock discuss its integration into GCC, linker, binary utilities, and GDB. Learn about CTF's origins in conveying C type information, its evolution to support new use cases like backtrace generation and ABI analysis, and planned changes for CTF V4. Gain insights into CTF's advantages over DWARF, its dictionary structure, data types, and compression techniques. Discover how CTF maintains compactness and simplicity while expanding its capabilities, and understand the ongoing discussions for format changes. Engage with topics such as online and offline backtracing, unwind formats, and callsite information as the speakers invite community participation in shaping CTF's future.