Getting started with JTAG and CCS

JTAG is a powerful tool to debug low level software. Your beaglebone is equipped with a built-in JTAG emulator providing connectivity over the same USB cable that powers the board, eliminating the need to buy expensive JTAG debugging hardware.

Code Composer Studio is a popular debugger based on eclipse that provides you with a complete IDE experience. These are simple instructions to get Code Composer Studio v5.1 up and running with your beaglebone.

Once you have downloaded and installed CCS, copy bbone-target-config.ccxml to the "Target Configurations" folder of your CCS install.
Open the Target Configurations window in CCS.
Click on the Refresh button on the top right of the Target Configuration window.
Right click on the bbone-target-config.ccxml file and click on "Launch Selected Configuration"
Now that you're in the debug view, connect to the CortexA8 core
You should see CCS halt the processor, and the result should look like this.

Code Composer Studio wiki