8 effective debugging strategies to find and fix bugs like a pro

The article says bugs are inevitable and that being able to find and fix them quickly is crucial for becoming a trusted software engineer. It presents debugging as a skill that saves time, reduces frustration, and improves code quality.

Reading notes

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• Write step-by-step reproduction instructions so the bug is easy to trigger for yourself and others.
• Configure the code and project to load near the problematic area to speed up debugging and testing.
• Use print statements or comment out code to isolate the error in large codebases.
• Explain what you expect to happen, line by line, as in rubber duck debugging, to spot inconsistencies in your thinking.
• Split the code into working and non-working parts with a binary search approach to narrow the scope.
• Learn debugging tools such as breakpoints and variable inspection to see the program flow and spot unexpected behavior.
• Keep track of what you have tried so you can avoid repeating the same steps and share progress with a colleague.
• Take a short break to get a fresh perspective, since solutions may come after stepping away from the problem.