Apparatus, methods and articles of manufacture are provided for tracking breakpoint hits. In one embodiment, a hit count is automatically incremented for each breakpoint. The hit count is stored for subsequent runs, thereby allowing a user to specify a breakpoint encounter number, N, to which a program may execute and then stop. Illustratively, each breakpoint encounter may have been automatically tracked prior to the user's specification of N. In another embodiment, a range in which the breakpoint is located is specified. The hit count is incremented for each encounter of the breakpoint in the range and reset each time the range is entered.