The placement of trace points in software code being developed in a software development tool leads to the generation of trace point messages when the code is executed. These trace point messages are listened for by aspects of the software development tool. Responsive to receiving one of the trace point messages, the software development tool may write information to a trace file. Advantageously, the trace file is formatted using a standard markup language format, such as HTML. Consequently, the trace file is readily readable (including information-conveying formatting) by a standard, freely available web browser, rather than a proprietary tool.