Debugging, tedious right? What the h!*ll is wrong? Well, I’ve been programming for 18 years and I have learnt a very simple but quite effective principle that usually helps you find the error quicker. It is actually quite simple, but I often find myself not following it and wasting time and patience.

When you get a bug, what is the first question you ask yourself? What the H**LL is the problem?!!!! Well, that phrase actually puts the finger on it. You’re asking the wrong question! It is usually quite difficult to know WHAT the problem is when you don’t know WHERE it is. So the first question should be, WHERE the h****ll is the problem? When you know where exactly the bug is in the code, the question to WHAT the h***ll is the problem? Is usually trivial or very simple.

Might seem a bit too obvious? Think about it, and think about it the next time you’re debugging, and I think you might learn to appreciate it.

Gustaf Westerlund
CRM and SharePoint Consultant

Humandata AB
www.humandata.se