The Art of Debugging

Credit to Remy Sharp

1 - Reproduce the Bug

• When does it happen?
• What actions does the user take?
• How is the system configured?
• What is the minimum set of steps?
• Can we make it happen consistently?

2 - Find the Bug

• Observe state and behavior
• Use print statements, logger, or debugger
• Narrow down scope
• Identify specific methods and arguments/data
• Verify via unit tests

3- Fix the Bug

• Use unit tests to trigger problem
• Carefully edit code to fix bug
• Test fix
• Perform regression tests
• Look for any related issues
• Commit and deploy fixed code