This is my personal opinion, but the tools built around it either use the gdb protocol which I'm sure LLDB will be implemented to speak, or tools that I don't c

This is my personal opinion, but the tools built around it either use the gdb protocol which I'm sure LLDB will be implemented to speak, or tools that I don't care about (like DDD you mentioned.. it was just a pain to use). I don't really dislike gdb per se, and it worked well enough for the tasks I used it for, but I just have a personal distaste code conventions of gdb, gcc and other huge GNU projects. I tried spelunking around gdb source to get at some OS X-specific features and tried adding simple instrumentation to GIMPLE trees in gcc's implementation, and both experiences left me with a negative opinion of GNU coding conventions and showed both projects' age. Looking at LLVM source and following their mailing lists is anything but, showing clear direction and clean implementation. I'm not a compiler guy by any stretch of the imagination, but LLVM felt very well-architected and modern. Apple sponsored LLVM after I started following it, so while it's true that they are behind it, it has very little to do with my respect for it.