> I almost never use a debugger. I make sure my programs produce log output and I make sure to know what my programs do.
I used to do precisely that. Sprinkle code with log messages, recompile and run. When I finally learned how to use gdb, my debugging productivity increased tenfold.
I mean, just the ability to stop your program at any given point gives you an enormous advantage. You can not only examine the local state of your program, but also you can see how the state of systems outside of your program (e.g. database) changes, and all of this without polluting the code with tons of useless debug messages.
Often when I had new ideas during bug hunts, to test my hypothesis without a debugger, I had to go back and add new logs, the recompile, then run (and make sure it reaches the same state as before!) - lots of wasted time. With a decent debugger it's as easy as typing an expression.
And I don't think debuggers lead to lazy thinking. The process of finding the problem is the same whatever method you use - you analyze the code, have an idea about what could be wrong, change one thing, then see what happens. Debuggers just make it easier.
I used to do precisely that. Sprinkle code with log messages, recompile and run. When I finally learned how to use gdb, my debugging productivity increased tenfold.
I mean, just the ability to stop your program at any given point gives you an enormous advantage. You can not only examine the local state of your program, but also you can see how the state of systems outside of your program (e.g. database) changes, and all of this without polluting the code with tons of useless debug messages.
Often when I had new ideas during bug hunts, to test my hypothesis without a debugger, I had to go back and add new logs, the recompile, then run (and make sure it reaches the same state as before!) - lots of wasted time. With a decent debugger it's as easy as typing an expression.
And I don't think debuggers lead to lazy thinking. The process of finding the problem is the same whatever method you use - you analyze the code, have an idea about what could be wrong, change one thing, then see what happens. Debuggers just make it easier.