microsoft / microsoft/java-debug

Race condition at the end of hot code replacement causes inconsistent UI state

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ai-triaged bug
Dominant language
Java
Stars
409
Forks
204
Avg merge
1d 13h
Merged PRs (30d)
4

Description

At the end of JavaHotCodeReplaceProvider.redefineClasses() execution JavaHotCodeReplaceProvider.stepIntoThread(ThreadReference) is called which sends JDI StepRequest to the target process and subscribes for StepEvent, on reception of which the following events for the UI are populated in that order:
context.getProtocolServer().sendEvent(new Events.StoppedEvent("step", thread.uniqueID())); context.getProtocolServer().sendEvent(new Events.ContinuedEvent(thread.uniqueID()));

However, ProtocolServer.sendEvent(DebugEvent) usually reverses this order by putting StoppedEvent to the event queue until ProtocolServer command processing (redefineClasses in this case) has completed. All other types of events are sent immediately. As JDI StepRequest is usually processed very quickly by the target process, the usual order for the VS Code UI to receive the events is ContinuedEvent > StoppedEvent. In contrast, if StepRequest processing happens to be slow then StoppedEvent is sent first and ContinuedEvent as the final one. In that case the Debug toolbar in VS Code UI will be shown like in running state with Stop button while the target process is still suspended.

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with JavaHotCodeReplaceProvider.redefineClasses() and stepIntoThread(ThreadReference), then inspect ProtocolServer.sendEvent(DebugEvent) and its handling of StoppedEvent and ContinuedEvent. Reproduce or trace the StepEvent timing, and consider the issue done when the VS Code UI consistently reflects the target process as suspended after hot code replacement.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
devtools
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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