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Engineering

Debugging

217 people are learning this skill right now!
Debugging is the process of identifying and resolving defects or issues in code. It involves analyzing and isolating the source of the problem, testing potential solutions, and fixing the underlying issue. Debugging is a crucial skill for software developers as it helps ensure the software or product runs smoothly and meets user and business needs.

  1. Learn Debugging with the Practica AI Coach

    The Practica AI Coach helps you improve in Debugging by using your current work challenges as opportunities to improve. The AI Coach will ask you questions, instruct you on concepts and tactics, and give you feedback as you make progress.

  2. How to Debug, Step by Step

    Debugging is the process of identifying and fixing errors in software. It is a crucial part of software development and maintenance, as bugs can cause significant issues for users and damage a company's reputation.
    • Remesh logo
      A systematic approach to debugging

      Nicole Tietz-Sokolskaya, Principal Engineer, Remesh

      Nicole discusses a systematic debugging process, which is applicable to various systems. The process involves understanding the symptoms, reproducing the bug, grasping the system, forming a bug location hypothesis, testing it, and ultimately fixing the bug. Key questions include when the bug started, its occurrence frequency, and related changes. Reproducing the bug is crucial, even for elusive ones. Understanding the system helps form connections between components. Hypothesizing the bug's location narrows down the search space. Testing the hypothesis is nuanced, requiring modifications and thorough validation. Fixing the bug comes after comprehensive understanding, but it may necessitate revisiting earlier stages.
    • Stripe logo
      What does debugging a program look like?

      Julia Evans, Software Engineer, Stripe

      Julia goes over some practical tips for debugging, including: • How to reproduce your bug • How to do so quickly • Experimenting in order to understand the bug • Checking your assumptions • Writing code to be easier to debug • Understanding error messages

  3. How to Reproduce Tricky Bugs

    • Asana logo
      How to fix bugs that you can’t reproduce

      Greg Sabo, Engineering Manager, Asana

      Greg provides a framework for fixing even the trickiest bugs: • Always structure your investigations using hypotheses • Leverage your teammates and previous written communication • Be realistic that not every bug can be fixed

  4. Debugging Examples

    • LinkedIn logo
      Solving a Murder Mystery

      Paul Osman, Senior Staff Software Engineer, LinkedIn

      Paul recalls a challenging bug encountered at the observability tool company that required teamwork and good observability to resolve. A customer reported that a specific query was generating a timeout error, and the error message indicated a problem with Honeycomb's datastore. However, the issue was not with the database availability but with the data itself, as the same query with different time windows produced no error. After further investigation, the team found that a segment was missing from S3, which was causing the error. The article provides technical details of how Honeycomb's systems work and how the custom instrumentation helped identify the issue.