tracet

tracet is a command-line utility available on some Unix-like operating systems, most notably macOS. Its primary function is to trace the execution path of a program, displaying the sequence of function calls made during its runtime. This can be particularly useful for debugging and understanding the flow of control in a complex application.

The tool works by intercepting function calls and returning from them, printing a message to standard output each time an event occurs. Users can typically specify the target process or a newly launched program to trace. The output of tracet can be quite verbose, detailing function names, arguments, and return values, depending on the configuration and the capabilities of the traced system.

While tracet offers a powerful way to observe program execution, its output can be challenging to parse and interpret without proper understanding. Its availability is not as widespread as other tracing tools like strace on Linux. For developers on systems where tracet is present, it provides a valuable insight into the internal workings of programs without requiring modifications to the source code itself. This makes it a niche but effective tool for certain diagnostic tasks.