[elcct]

I think when you have to resort to using debugger, probably it is better to discard the code entirely and rethink the solution.

[etatoby]

I've only used a debugger a few times, when the program did not seem to behave according to the source code. That was invariably due to a third-party bug (compiler, library, OS) or to me failing to understand a subtle point about the language or library I was using.

But in general I agree with you.

[mbrock]

If you have to break out the multimeter, it's probably just better to throw out that radio and make a new one.

[elcct]

I don't think this is a right analogy, because the code can't "go bad" on its own one day (as if some capacitor would go dry), unless you modify it to do so. Maybe when you don't have access to the source code and you want to see what is going on, use of debugger could make sense.