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From: tim@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer
Subject: Mini-flame: Debugging Techniques
Message-ID: <11051@hoptoad.uucp>
Date: 8 Apr 90 18:45:43 GMT
Organization: Eclectic Software, San Francisco
Lines: 30

There are an awful lot of programming problems posted to this place
which seem to show a defective understanding of debugging.  People seem
to think that they will be able to solve all their problems through
deduction, by sitting back and thinking about what might be causing the
problem and what might be a way to solve it.  This is a good way to
solve many problems, but for many others (perhaps most), you need to
use an empirical method, to wit: breaking into the debugger, stepping
through your code, and seeing where it breaks.  (The alternative is to
insert probe statements which put out information that allows
non-debugger tracing of execution, but this doesn't apply to many
problems in obscure environments or inside system code.)

Long-timers will notice that I'm giving many fewer answers here than I
have in the past.  One of the major reasons is that I've reached my
limit on people who go to the net for an answer before they'll apply
the very simplest local debugger strategies to their problems.  You
will *have* to do this to become a professional programmer, and it will
have to become routine for you.  There are too many problems that are
tractable only to debugger methods.

The net does not exist as a substitute for your use of basic
programming techniques.  It is rude to post a question to the net which
you could answer yourself with a small amount of work sitting in front
of your computer.
-- 
Tim Maroney, Mac Software Consultant, sun!hoptoad!tim, tim@toad.com

"As I was walking among the fires of Hell, delighted with the enjoyments of
 Genius; which to Angels look like torment and insanity.  I collected some of
 their Proverbs..." - Blake, "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell"