Understand Every BIT of Your Code: Breakpoint debugging and more!

You know about breakpoints already. You use them here and there, but they’re slow and annoying. Printing logs is easier and works just fine, right? What could you be missing? EVERYTHING. I will show you exactly WHY and WHEN to use breakpoints and other debugging tools, from frontend to database.

In this talk I will go over all the major questions and uncertainties about your code that you will face when programming, and show which specific debugging tool is the most effective for finding the answer. You will see concrete examples of debugging the entire stack of a web app from the browser HTML all the way through to the backend and the database. After this talk you will know exactly when to use breakpoints, inspections, logs/prints, profilers, and more. Most importantly, you will understand why they are the best tools for the job so you can continue optimizing your debugging skills throughout your career.

This talk is not a demo of various debugging tools (although that is a part of it), but instead it’s about a philosophy for debugging that you can apply to any language and any tech stack to truly understand everything that your program is doing every step of the way. It is a method and a toolbox for answering any question about your program, so you can eliminate uncertainties and actually make the informed, correct choices, down to the very BITS of memory. In essence, these skills WILL make you a better programmer.