Debugging Reference

Some ideas for debugging things:

1. did it used to work? then look at the deltas; what changed from working to not working?
2. use logic and deduction to narrow the problem down. break it down into a list of components or sections. it can be valuable to isolate or bisect your design until you've found the failed component or subsystem
3. work backwards: measure the failure and assess what are the inputs. measure each input, repeating until you've worked your way all the to the failure
4. top down: if you know what output is failed verify all the inputs are correct and work forward until you've found the failure
5. scorched earth: verify everything, what's left is what's broken

Advice:

• find a way to reliably and quickly repro the problem
• involve the team and involve the vendor right away
• be organized, take notes