If you work with web programming, you should know that bugs are inevitable. These can occur due to syntax errors—such as incomplete code—logic errors, or even due to components and improper assembly of the electronic circuit.
<p>But how can you identify bugs amidst so many lines of code and fix them? This is where debugging begins.
Also known as debugging, it is the name given to the process of finding and eliminating errors that software and hardware can make. The term is part of the development process from the very beginning, and some claim it was even coined before web development itself.
What is debugging? What is its origin, function, and importance in a programmer’s routine? These are the questions we’ll answer below. Enjoy!
Where did the terms bug and debug come from?
Many people claim that the term “bug” was coined by Grace Hopper , a famous US Navy developer who created the programming language known as Flow-Matic. Although this language wasn’t widely used, it served as the basis for COBOL.
This version of the story tells that Grace asia mobile number list was trying to find the problem with her computer until she discovered it was caused by a dead insect. This would be the origin of the term bug, which means insect in English.
The second version is older and has a connection to <strong>Thomas Edison , inventor of the electric light bulb. It tells of how, in 1878, Edison was searching for the source of a problem with his phonograph’s playback, and eventually found it to be an insect.
If we talk about the term debug, it was used for the first time by Glenford J. Myers, in 1976, in his book Software Reliability: Principles and Practices .
What is debugging for?
Its goal is to find errors that may prevent code from working properly . It allows you to determine what’s happening within the source code and obtain suggestions for improvement.
Each web development tool has its own code debugging tool . These tools allow you to determine breakpoints to verify the current state of the application, for example.
You can also add the contents of a specific variable. All of this helps make the grueling task of finding a bug in a system easier.
Types of debugging tools
There are tools specifically for debugging. These are essential for those who work primarily with front-end development .
Some examples are:
- Chrome Dev Tools ;
- Web Inspector ;
- Firefox Developer Tools ;
- React Developer Tools ;
- Node Inspector .
Another way used to debug a system small businesses have limited staff and resources. so many of them skip important work like are error logs , which are text files with useful information about what is happening, or what happened, at the time of execution of a code.
These are present in various places, such as:
- Operational systems;
- Web server ;
- Data bank.
Some debugs are a little different from those we’ve already presented. If you’re creating a driver for new hardware to be compatible with Windows, for example, at some point, you’ll need to run tests to verify that the operating system and its hardware are connected correctly.
For this, Windows itself enables debugging tools, through the Windows Driver Kit and Windows Debuggers, which are a set of 6 debugging environments .
On the other hand, Intel provides Debug Tools , which are a toolkit consisting of hardware, software and accessories to assist in this process.
If you’re a game developer working on a virtual reality project, you can use the Oculus Debug Tool , created by a company specializing in the field.
What is the importance of Debug?
Debugging improves time management and productivity for professionals. Fixing bugs manually can be a time-consuming and frustrating task.
When this type of activity is performed by a tool, you have time. Mainly because it doesn’t need to read the entire code to identify fax list errors, so it goes straight to the critical point. Therefore, web programmers can dedicate more time to improvement and innovation processes.
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