Abstract: A program state definition comprises target values that correspond to problematic or unexpected output of a program. A debugger compares the target values of the program state definition to variable values of a program and stops execution of a program at a point where all target values are contained in variables of the program. By stopping execution of a program, the debugger allows a programmer to analyze the program at that point. Unlike a breakpoint, a program state definition is not tied to a specific line of code, variable, or function but, rather, has a scope of an entire program or a specified section of a program.