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<h2 class="chapter">15 Using <span class="sc">gdb</span> with Different Languages</h2>

<p><a name="index-languages-777"></a>
Although programming languages generally have common aspects, they are
rarely expressed in the same manner.  For instance, in ANSI C,
dereferencing a pointer <code>p</code> is accomplished by <code>*p</code>, but in
Modula-2, it is accomplished by <code>p^</code>.  Values can also be
represented (and displayed) differently.  Hex numbers in C appear as
&lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">0x1ae</span></samp>&rsquo;, while in Modula-2 they appear as &lsquo;<samp><span class="samp">1AEH</span></samp>&rsquo;.

   <p><a name="index-working-language-778"></a>Language-specific information is built into <span class="sc">gdb</span> for some languages,
allowing you to express operations like the above in your program's
native language, and allowing <span class="sc">gdb</span> to output values in a manner
consistent with the syntax of your program's native language.  The
language you use to build expressions is called the <dfn>working
language</dfn>.

<ul class="menu">
<li><a accesskey="1" href="Setting.html#Setting">Setting</a>:                      Switching between source languages
<li><a accesskey="2" href="Show.html#Show">Show</a>:                         Displaying the language
<li><a accesskey="3" href="Checks.html#Checks">Checks</a>:                       Type and range checks
<li><a accesskey="4" href="Supported-Languages.html#Supported-Languages">Supported Languages</a>:          Supported languages
<li><a accesskey="5" href="Unsupported-Languages.html#Unsupported-Languages">Unsupported Languages</a>:        Unsupported languages
</ul>

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