Add intro blog and contributor info for GSoC'25

Author: kr-2003

_data/contributors.yml

@@ -360,6 +360,22 @@
       proposal: /assets/docs/Abdelrhman_Elrawy_Proposal_GSoC_2025.pdf
       mentors: Vassil Vassilev, Alexander Penev
 
+- name: Abhinav Kumar
+  photo: Abhinav.jpg
+  info: "Google Summer of Code 2025 Contributor"
+  email: [email protected]
+  education: "Computer Science & Engineering, Bachelor of Technology, Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Indore, India"
+  github: "https://github.com/kr-2003"
+  active: 1
+  linkedin: "https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhinavkumar2105/"
+  projects:
+    - title: "Implementing Debugging Support for xeus-cpp"
+      status: Ongoing
+      description: |
+        This project aims at integrating debugging into the xeus-cpp kernel for Jupyter using LLDB and its Debug Adapter Protocol (lldb-dap). Modeled after xeus-python, it leverages LLDB’s Clang and JIT debugging support to enable breakpoints, variable inspection, and step-through execution. The modular design ensures compatibility with Jupyter’s frontend, enhancing interactive C++ development in notebooks.
+      proposal: /assets/docs/Abhinav_Kumar_Proposal_GSoC_2025.pdf
+      mentors: Vassil Vassilev, Vipul Cariappa, Aaron Jomy, Anutosh Bhat
+
 - name: "This could be you!"
   photo: rock.jpg
   info: See <a href="/careers">openings</a> for more info

_pages/team/abhinav-kumar.md

@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+---
+title: "Compiler Research - Team - Abhinav Kumar"
+layout: gridlay
+excerpt: "Compiler Research: Team members"
+sitemap: false
+permalink: /team/AbhinavKumar
+email: [email protected]
+---
+
+{% include team-profile.html %}

_posts/2025-05-22-implementing-debugger-support-for-xeus-cpp.md

@@ -0,0 +1,78 @@
+---
+title: "Implementing Debugging Support for xeus-cpp"
+layout: post
+excerpt: "A GSoC 2025 project aiming at integration of debugger into the xeus-cpp kernel for Jupyter using LLDB and its Debug Adapter Protocol (lldb-dap)."
+sitemap: false
+author: Abhinav Kumar
+permalink: blogs/gsoc25_abhinav_kumar_introduction_blog/
+banner_image: /images/blog/gsoc-banner.png
+date: 2025-05-22
+tags: gsoc c++ debugger dap clang jupyter
+---
+
+### Introduction
+
+I am Abhinav Kumar, a final-year Computer Science and Engineering undergraduate at Indian Institute of Technology(IIT) Indore. I'm thrilled to be working with CERN-HSF for Google Summer of Code 2025 on the project "Implementing Debugging Support for xeus-cpp."
+
+**Mentors**:Vassil Vassilev, Vipul Cariappa, Aaron Jomy, Anutosh Bhat
+
+
+### The Need for Seamless C++ Debugging in Jupyter
+
+[Jupyter](https://jupyter.org/) notebooks have revolutionized interactive computing, and kernels like [xeus-cpp](https://github.com/compiler-research/xeus-cpp/) bring the power of C++ to this environment. However, while writing and executing C++ code incrementally is great, the debugging experience can be a hurdle. Developers often need to step through their code, inspect variables, and understand the program's state, especially when dealing with the complexities that C++ can present. This project aims to bridge that gap by integrating robust debugging capabilities directly into the xeus-cpp kernel.
+
+### Project Goal: Interactive Debugging with LLDB and DAP
+The core idea is to bring a full-fledged debugging experience to xeus-cpp users within Jupyter. This means enabling features like:
+
+1. **Breakpoint Management**: Setting and removing breakpoints with ease.
+2. **Variable Inspection**: Examining the values of variables at different execution stages.
+3. **Step-Through Execution**: Controlling the flow of code execution (step in, step over, step out).
+4. **Stack Tracing**: Understanding the call stack to pinpoint issues.
+
+To achieve this, the project will leverage existing, powerful technologies:
+
+1. **LLDB**: The [LLVM debugger](https://lldb.llvm.org/), which has excellent support for JIT-compiled code and Clang integration—perfect for how xeus-cpp executes code dynamically.
+2. **Debug Adapter Protocol (DAP)**: A [standardized protocol](https://microsoft.github.io/debug-adapter-protocol//) by Microsoft that allows debuggers to communicate with development tools. This ensures compatibility with Jupyter's frontend and follows the successful model of [xeus-python](https://github.com/jupyter-xeus/xeus-python).
+
+A key design principle is to run the debugger (specifically, [lldb-dap](https://lldb.llvm.org/resources/lldbdap.html), which acts as a DAP server for LLDB) as an external process. This is crucial for kernel stability, preventing the Jupyter kernel from freezing when a breakpoint is hit.
+
+### Proposed Architecture Overview
+The proposed system involves a few key components working together:
+<img src="/images/blog/debugger_xeus_cpp_architecture.png" alt="Project Architecture" style="width: 90%; height: auto"/>
+
+1. **Jupyter Environment (Notebook & Server)**: The user interface where DAP requests are initiated and responses are displayed.
+
+2. **xeus-cpp Kernel**:
+    - ``xcpp::debugger``: A new class that will manage the debugging session, inheriting from **xeus::xdebugger_base**. It will handle DAP messages and interact with the lldb-dap client.
+    - ``xcpp::xlldb_dap_client``: This component will manage the actual DAP communication with the external lldb-dap process.
+    - ``JIT Engine``: Compiles the C++ code from cells and notifies LLDB about new symbols.
+
+3. **External Debugger (lldb-dap & LLDB)**:
+    - ``lldb-dap``: Runs as a separate server, translating DAP messages into LLDB API calls and vice-versa.
+    - ``LLDB``: Executes the debugging actions on the JIT-compiled code.
+
+This modular design, inspired by [xeus-python](https://github.com/jupyter-xeus/xeus-python), aims for a lightweight integration that reuses existing xeus infrastructure where possible.
+
+### Progress and Path Forward
+
+I've already made some promising headway:
+
+1. Successfully demonstrated that LLDB can attach to and debug JIT-compiled code generated by [CppInterOp](https://github.com/compiler-research/CppInterOp/) (which xeus-cpp relies on). This involved ensuring symbols are resolved correctly when ``plugin.jit-loader.gdb.enable`` is active in LLDB.
+2. Set up debugging in VSCode using lldb-dap for JIT-compiled code, proving the viability of lldb-dap for this context.
+3. Experimented with running the lldb-dap executable on a specific port and sending DAP requests (initialize, launch, setBreakpoints, continue) via a Python script, successfully hitting breakpoints and getting stack traces.
+
+The roadmap includes:
+
+1. **Implementing debugger class**: Defining the main debugger class, handling the debugger lifecycle, and managing LLDB-DAP settings. A key modification will be using a "launch" request instead of "attach" (as xeus-python does), because LLDB needs to launch our custom executable containing the JIT code. This might require minor adjustments in xeus-zmq.
+2. **Developing lldb-dap client**: This class will inherit from ``xeus::xdap_tcp_client`` and manage the low-level DAP communication.
+3. **Robust Testing**: Implementing a comprehensive testing framework using [GoogleTest](https://github.com/google/googletest).
+
+### Expected Benefits and Future Scope 
+
+Successfully completing this project will significantly enhance the C++ development experience within Jupyter notebooks. It will provide:
+
+1. A seamless, interactive debugging workflow for xeus-cpp users.
+2. Increased productivity by allowing developers to quickly identify and fix bugs in their C++ notebook code.
+3. A more robust and feature-complete C++ kernel for the Jupyter ecosystem.
+
+Looking ahead, the architecture is designed with future-proofing in mind, potentially supporting advanced features like remote debugging, alternative debuggers or debugger in xeus-cpp-lite.