[jschwartzi]

Where you would set a breakpoint at x=1, I would insert a syslog statement and dump the data into the log file. Since syslog is another process I can watch the behavior of the program while it is in operation alongside the other programs on the system. I've actually only used debuggers on systems which don't have any logging infrastructure.

At my last job for example, I frequently would plug the JTAG in to check the instruction pointer and read from the memory-mapped flash on our safety MCU because there was no other way to read data off the device after a crash.

And it was also an asset in quickly testing the programs I wrote for TI's N2HET because I could pause execution after the programs were loaded into the HET instruction ram, use the debugger to configure the variables in the instruction RAM and set the HET executing and watch the output on my oscilloscope. This ability to manipulate memory in the running program is very useful.

I used it very frequently when testing new components on our system buses because I could halt execution and configure DMA transfers and also inject data into system ram. So I could quickly validate my understanding of the reference manuals.

I think both approaches have merits and if someone tells you that one is superior to the other, that says a lot about their level of experience and the types of work they've done.

[Stratoscope]

Those are some great debugging stories. Yep, for that kind of work I would probably do something more like what you were doing. I also appreciated your last comment:

> I think both approaches have merits and if someone tells you that one is superior to the other, that says a lot about their level of experience and the types of work they've done.

Indeed. We have so many great tools available to us, but the best choice of tools will vary a lot depending on the work you're doing, whether it is logging, JTAG and a 'scope, or whatever you have available.

It's quite a contrast to this quote from the article:

> ...the fact that Linus Torvalds, who is in charge of a critical piece of our infrastructure made of 15 million lines of code (the Linux kernel), does not use a debugger tells us something about debuggers

I don't think that tells us anything about debuggers, it just tells us that they aren't useful for Linus's particular work, or possibly he just doesn't like them. I doubt that Linus has ever said, "You should never use a debugger regardless of the kind of programming you're doing."