Breakpoints and Tracepoints
Breakpoints tell the debugger that an application should break, pause execution, at a certain point. When a break occurs, your program and the debugger are said to be in break mode. For more information, see Breaking Execution.
Tracepoints are a new debugger feature in Visual Studio. A tracepoint is a breakpoint with a custom action associated with it. When a tracepoint is hit, the debugger performs the specified tracepoint action instead of, or in addition to, breaking program execution.
One common use for tracepoints is printing a message when your program reaches a certain point. You can use tracepoints for many of the same purposes for which you would use Trace, but without the need to modify your code. Another difference is that tracepoints work only when you are running under the debugger. For more information, see How to: Specify a Tracepoint/Breakpoint Action.
For further information, see the following topics:
How to: Set a Simple Breakpoint
How to: Set an Address Breakpoint
How to: Set a Function Breakpoint
How to: Set a Breakpoint on a Function Call from the Call Stack Window
How to: Set a Data Breakpoint (Native Only)
How to: Enable or Disable a Breakpoint
How to: Disable All Breakpoints
How to: Delete All Breakpoints
How to: Edit a Breakpoint Location
How to: Specify a Breakpoint Condition
How to: Specify a Breakpoint Filter
How to: Specify a Tracepoint/Breakpoint Action
How to: Use the Breakpoints Window