Definition
Plain language
A printout showing the chain of function calls that led to the exact point where a program crashed or stopped.
As stated in the literature
An ordered record of the active call stack at a given execution point, naming each frame from the fault site back to the entry point; emitted by sanitizers and debuggers as crash evidence.
Also called: stack traces
Why it matters: It points a developer straight to where and how a program failed instead of leaving them to guess.
For example, when an app crashes, the stack trace lists each function involved, showing that the error happened deep inside a date-parsing routine called from the login screen.
Heard on the show
“A stack trace points you at the exact function and the exact reason it blew up.”Episode 194 — How a Robot Builds a Debugging Notebook It Can Read, Edit, and Hand to Another Robot