linux strace

   In the simplest case strace runs the specified command until it exits.  It intercepts and records the system calls which are called by  a  process  and  the  signals
   which are received by a process.  The name of each system call, its arguments and its return value are printed on standard error or to the file specified with the -o
   option.

   strace is a useful diagnostic, instructional, and debugging tool.

ref

• man strace
• http://www.dbabeta.com/2009/strace.html