In my latest article, Debug like a boss: 10 debugging hacks for developers, quality engineers, and testers, I share the tricks that have saved me (and my sanity) more times than I can count. From writing down assumptions to using print statements, breaking things on purpose, and explaining bugs to a rubber duck — these hacks help me stop guessing and start seeing clearly.
I’d love to hear from you:
What’s your go-to debugging hack when nothing makes sense?
Have you ever spent hours chasing a bug, only to realise it came from a false assumption?
Do you prefer digging into logs, reproducing the issue, or stepping away for a break?
How do you keep debugging from turning into pure frustration?
Let’s swap ideas — your hard-earned tricks might be the next person’s breakthrough.
Excellent article, Hanish. I shared this with my development team.
When I am stuck on a tricky bug, I try to step back and, if possible, move what’s obvious out of the way. One bug that always seems to crop up at least once wherever I work is the issue where Windows users tend to click their mouse twice, using a double-click, while Mac users tend to click only once. User behaviors can be some of the hardest bugs to find, and I really try to imagine in what ways a user could possibly be using the application that I’m not aware of.
Great context to every mind bending debugging session. Like @jmosley5 I like to step back. Had 2 points today where I was just seeing my changes not work, and that’s always a sign you are tired.
I also like to remove as much logging and prints to see if the behaviour changes with logging off, because logs often create synchronisation pinch-points.
And my second suggestion, is to start the entire environment set up from scratch, which is a bit like Judy’s point about how users on Mac/Windows click differently. Sometimes stepping back lets you see things you did differently to set up the scenario.