|
|
|
|
|
|
by black-alert
2611 days ago
|
|
|
When I first learned to code in TurboC some 30 years ago I used the IDE's step debugger for a while. Although a great tool for learning how your code executes line after line, I stopped using it after a short while because I found it to tedious and distracting to go through the code this way. Being able to set a breakpoint and see the actual value of something I can do in an instant with logging. I never use the browsers 'debug' tool, tried it once and got bored already.. IMAO the code I'm working on should live inside my head, that's the place where I construct and debug. Even when I'm new on a +100Kloc project, I'd still prefer to read through the code and figure out what's actually going on. I see so many developers in the JS world spending soo much time and focus on all those tools; types, eslint, debuggers, testing, etc.. it makes me really suspicious about whether they have the actual skill to write a good codebase. I can only be convinced when my code would be buggy and theirs flawless, but I never see that, it's for some reason always the other way around! Just take a look at this project (a random pick) with all those (virtual) safeguards, result: over 3600 issues!!! https://github.com/Microsoft/TypeScript I mean 3600+ issues, WTF!! And I should be using this tool to prevent issues in my software? Sometimes it feels like this entire industry is broken. |
|
|
Some “safeguards,” eminently type systems (with algebraic types and inference if possible) I've slowly come to value a lot, especially when maintaining a codebase for an extended period of time.
But otherwise, I still prefer to reason over my code, with the aid of at most a few debug prints / logs. Breakpoints I only use very rarely. Other debugger features not at all.
But I remember it taking many years before I could build a complete working picture of the code I was writing (or reading) in my head. Before that, I was basically horsing around. Thankfully, that was around high school time. By the time I got into the industry, I already had that skill finely developed.
Nowadays, I don't think many fresh graduates have it, and yet the industry prefers hiring them, rather than more experienced (older) people. Go figure.