Debugging is the process of examining the state of a program - generally with a debugging tool - while it is running and attempting to find bugs that cause it to behave abnormally.
12
votes
3answers
474 views
How to locate source code that implemented a certain feature?
I was wondering what are some techniques to locate which code implemented a specific feature, on a desktop application.
I am a junior developer, with only professional programming experience lying ...
0
votes
0answers
10 views
GDB break ptrace not working on OS X Mavericks [migrated]
An old and well known technique for preventing executable from being debugged on OS X is to use the following call to ptrace to deny debuggers from attaching themselves to an executable.
...
0
votes
11answers
419 views
Is debugging a waste of time? [duplicate]
I work on a lot of projects for fun, so I have the freedom to choose when I want to finish the project and am not constrained by deadlines.
Therefore, if I wanted to, I could follow this philosophy:
...
0
votes
1answer
70 views
debugging web applications using debug parameter
A suggestion has been made by a team member to leave all debug code intact in our web pages... and then to create a variable that can be turned on / off to enable /
disable debugging.
This is a ...
1
vote
5answers
317 views
Should unit-tests be entirely self-contained? [duplicate]
As the title suggests my question is whether or not
unit-tests should be entirely self-contained or can
one rely on the results yielded by previous tests?
What I mean, in case that it isn't entirely ...
2
votes
0answers
134 views
How to manage stress from ongoing difficult maintenance?
I recently signed on to a contract where I am supporting an aging legacy system. The system is a collage of .net and VBScript components. Part of it operates as a web application; part of it ...
3
votes
4answers
204 views
When should a database table use timestamps?
First a note, I thought maybe this question belonged in the database exchange, but I think it is more broadly related to a programming solution as a whole than to databases. Will move to database ...
4
votes
3answers
270 views
Is printing to console/stdout a good debugging strategy?
Let's say we have a function like this:
public void myStart()
{
for (int i = 0; i<10; i++) myFunction(i);
}
private int myFunction(int a)
{
a = foo(a);
a = bar(a);
return a;
}
...
1
vote
3answers
141 views
Debugging checklists: How much it's necessary to have? [closed]
Should making debug-checklists be an essential part of development process? How it can be integrated with unit-tests?
Update
Debugging checklist: Think about it as your troubleshooting checklist -- ...
7
votes
6answers
2k views
How should one debug a PHP web application securely without exposing secrets to competitors?
Recently I made a program. I forget to delete 2 line of codes. That mistake cost me $800 per day every day.
I was programming with PHP. If a visitor uses proxy it redirect somewhere else. Using ...
1
vote
4answers
155 views
How to trace logical errors in algorithms [closed]
I am beginner in algorithms. Last year I participated in Google Code Jam. One of the major issues I faced during the competition was my code was working fine on my test cases, but when I submitted on ...
4
votes
2answers
294 views
How do you build debugging messages into your programs/scripts?
General, high-level question for people who work with code regularly.
I was repurposing some old, outdated Javascript code into a Chrome extension, and to help me understand it, I wrote some quick ...
1
vote
2answers
64 views
API for expanation of complicated calculation or business rules?
In online shops there are areas with complicated rules. For example
is a product visible in the product catalog
is a product sold out
what is the price for the product (Discounts, Promotions, ...)
...
3
votes
2answers
140 views
Verbose or concise logging [duplicate]
I was wondering how much data should be logged.
I know this deeply depends on multiple factors. But it can still be hard to find the golden middle way.
Lets say I have an application where people ...
1
vote
3answers
269 views
How do you avoid looping mistakes? Mistakes that are not detected by systems [closed]
I had this crazy initialisation --
documentList = new ArrayList<Map<String,Integer>>();
which I intended to store a new map everytime in a loop but unfortunately put itself inside the ...
