One disclosed embodiment is a method for adapting a debugger to a selected target. According to this embodiment, the debugger connects to the selected target. Thereafter a debug core in the debugger dynamically loads a module set from a target database that corresponds to the selected target. Next, a debug info/loader, a disassembler, and/or a target support are dynamically loaded based on the module set loaded by debug core. Thereafter, the debug info/loader, disassembler, and/or target support can directly connect to the selected target to retrieve additional target-specific information. By implementing the above method, the debugger can adapt to new or different targets without the need to rebuild different versions of the debugger to suit new or different targets. In other embodiments, a system for implementing the above method, and a computer readable medium containing a computer program for implementing the above method, are disclosed.