In order to debug compiled applications, it is necessary to match-up the IL or machine code in the binary with the original lines of source code. While this data could be embedded in the application itself, that would significantly increase the size of the EXE or DLL file. Instead, a separate “symbols” file is usually used. On the Windows platform, this is known as a PDB or “program database”.
Originally designed for C/C++, the PDB format has been expanded over the years to include. NET. Unfortunately, the format was always considered to be proprietary, which in this case means that it wasn’t well documented and really could only be read using Windows-only libraries.
