6 ms·
I have always felt that I was better at debugging than programming :-) I have often been able to debug really complex problems but afterwards I am not able to r
by 2sk21 10y ago
I have always felt that I was better at debugging than programming :-) I have often been able to debug really complex problems but afterwards I am not able to retrace the steps that I took to come up with the diagnosis - so I'm not sure if this skill can be taught.
- camperman 10y agoI KNOW I'm better at debugging than at programming. My own working code is terribly simple and straightforward but I've fixed kernel sound drivers, buggy firmwares and complex interrupt-driven music players. Perhaps I find it easier to construct a mental model when presented with a finished system rather than when starting from scratch.
- 2sk21 10y agoI think you have touched on something important - you need a good mental model of the system being debugged.
- camperman 10y agoI guess it's my personality type too which is INTP, the classical deconstructionist. What does this do? How does it do it? Why isn't it working?
- nissimk 10y agoNeal Stephenson writes about this in my favorite "the diamond age," he calls it honer and forger. The type of engineer that is better at improving an existing thing vs. creating something new. There's a need for all types.
- camperman 10y agoAaaah, this makes so much sense. Thanks for the reminder. Here's the para in question: "Hackworth was a forger, Dr. X was a honer. The distinction was at least as old as the digital computer. Forgers created a new technology and then forged on to the next project, having explored only the outlines of its potential. Honers got less respect because they appeared to sit still technologically, playing around with systems that were no longer start, hacking them for all they were worth, getting them to do things the forgers had never envisioned."
- jungletek 10y agoThis book is probably my favorite of his, and definitely in my personal top-10 for fiction. Enjoyed it immensely on the first read, and get even more out of it on subsequent ones.
- bpicolo 10y ago> My own working code is terribly simple and straightforward That makes you a good programmer, too. ;)
- JoachimS 10y agoI hope your employer values you. Good debuggers (persons) seems to be rare. Esp people who also like to debug stuff. And you are soo needed.