Friday, July 26, 2013

Release "Release" Binaries!

Most IDEs output two different versions of the program when compiling, usually called something like "Debug" and "Release."  Almost always, these two versions will run identically.  However, you should notice that the binaries in the Debug folder are about 12KB larger.  This extra space is taken up by code that allows your IDE to hook into the running program and poke around with variables, usually for debugging/analysis purposes.  Besides wasting 12 perfectly good kilobytes, those hooks could allow someone to force the program into a state that it is not designed to handle.  Debug versions also tend to contain parts of your code in string format.  To hold onto your intellectual property, you should be careful to only distribute the Release binaries.

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