- You shouldn't be denied an opportunity
to help others find their bugs.
- Taking a close look at your code helps you
finally understand how it works.
- Learning how to use a debugger takes away precious time
from class.
- To use a debugger effectively, you must know
what to look for. This skill is acquired gradually.
Experiment first with strategically
placing debugging printouts in your
code or commenting out fragments of code.
- If you have trouble tracing your code without a
debugger, you will structure it better next time.
- A debugger may be not very helpful for finding
typical beginner's bugs, such as a misspelled redefined
method's name, an
== instead of equals,
or a missing repaint.
- Beginners' bugs are often the size of an elephant. You
can waste a lot of time searching for one with a
microscope.
- Searching for bugs with your bare hands helps you
accept responsibility for them and write bug-free
code in the future.
- Looking for bugs manually teaches you to reason
about your own and other people's code -- an
important skill.
- Finding bugs manually is
one of only a few real problem-solving activities
in programming. You should not be
denied this opportunity.
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