Electric Fence

Electric Fence (efence) is an open-source software library designed to detect buffer overruns and under-runs in C programs. This innovative software is an advanced iteration of the original created by Bruce Perens. It offers users additional features, including portability to MS Windows® NT/2K/XP systems/compilers, tools to help detect memory leaks, and support for C++ programming languages.

When it comes to detecting overruns or underruns in malloc() memory buffers, Electric Fence (efence) is unparalleled. It works by creating a red-zone at the border of each buffer using virtual-memory hardware. As soon as a user touches the red-zone, the program stops, pinpointing the exact instruction that caused the bug. This action triggers GDB to display the source-code line responsible for the error, enabling a fast and precise bug-fixing process.

Electric Fence (efence) is a powerful tool that catches even the previously impossible-to-detect overrun bugs that have been plaguing developers for years. Its innovative approach and support for multiple programming languages make it an essential addition to your software development toolkit.