Debugging Skill

Systematic approaches to investigating and diagnosing bugs.

Core Principle

Understand before fixing. A proper diagnosis leads to a proper fix.

The Scientific Method for Debugging

1. Observe

Gather all the facts:

• What's the symptom? (What's happening that shouldn't?)
• When does it happen? (Always, sometimes, specific conditions?)
• Who's affected? (All users, some users, specific scenarios?)
• Error messages? (Exact text, stack traces, error codes?)
• Recent changes? (What changed before this started?)