retstep

Retstep is a term that sometimes appears in discussions related to programming and debugging, particularly within the context of low-level development or reverse engineering. It refers to a specific type of single-step execution within a debugger. When a debugger is set to "retstep," it will execute a single instruction and then stop, but with a special condition: if that instruction is a "return" instruction (like `ret` in x86 assembly), the debugger will not stop at the return instruction itself. Instead, it will continue execution until the instruction immediately following the function call that invoked the current function.

This behavior is useful for understanding program flow without getting bogged down in the details of every function's return. For instance, if you are debugging a program and want to step through the main logic of a calling function without examining the internal workings of every subroutine it calls, a retstep can be employed. It allows the debugger to efficiently "step out" of functions as they complete their execution, placing the execution point at the point where control is returned to the caller. This contrasts with a standard single-step, which would halt at every instruction, including the return instruction itself. The exact implementation and availability of a retstep feature may vary depending on the specific debugger being used.