5 ms·

Back in the day the Win32 Beep() function was a pretty effective tool for debugging certain multi-threaded and server tasks. You set up uniquely pitched beeps

Back in the day the Win32 Beep() function was a pretty effective tool for debugging certain multi-threaded and server tasks. You set up uniquely pitched beeps for certain events, and then listen for the order in which the events occur. It worked because a call into Beep() halted the entire process and all of its threads for the duration of the beep. It prevents multiple threads from beeping at the same time, and it slowed everything down just enough so that you could pick up each individual event with your ear. It beat the hell out of staring at a massive log file.

anton_gogolev 12y ago
Choir.io[1] is very much like that. [1]: https://choir.io/ https://choir.io/
- angersock 12y ago
  No, no--it's really not.
raverbashing 12y ago
Oh wow, this brings memories. But I didn't use it for user space debugging, but for kernel space debugging on windows. Set a different set of beeps for different steps in the code, then listen for the beeps as things unfold.
maaaats 12y ago
This reminds me of a talk by two of the Nobel price winners in medicine this year (Moser couple). They, together with O'Keefe, measured brain activity in various parts of the brain. Before computer loggers and visualization was very viable, neuroscientists hooked the sensors up to speakers. So they sat and watched mice move in a maze, and listened to various parts of the brain "fire".
- stinos 12y ago
  The listening is still being done today in experiments. An experienced neurophysiologist (in the particular field of single cell recordings) can distinguish the sound of an actual braincell firing, or groups thereof, from all surrounding noise. Which is sometimes more convenient than recording the signal, feeding it into rather complicated template matching algorithms and waiting for results. Especially since braincells might die while being recorded from, so you have to decide quickly.
WorldWideWayne 12y ago
I was initially surprised to find that Beep is still available in the latest .NET framework (in multiple forms) because it just seems so archaic, but I guess the most basic audio feedback can still be useful. - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.console.beep%28v=vs.110%29.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.console.beep%... - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kz27k38z%28v=vs.90%29.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kz27k38z%28v=vs.90%2...

anton_gogolev 12y ago

Choir.io[1] is very much like that. [1]: https://choir.io/ https://choir.io/

angersock 12y ago
No, no--it's really not.

raverbashing 12y ago

Oh wow, this brings memories. But I didn't use it for user space debugging, but for kernel space debugging on windows. Set a different set of beeps for different steps in the code, then listen for the beeps as things unfold.

maaaats 12y ago

This reminds me of a talk by two of the Nobel price winners in medicine this year (Moser couple). They, together with O'Keefe, measured brain activity in various parts of the brain. Before computer loggers and visualization was very viable, neuroscientists hooked the sensors up to speakers. So they sat and watched mice move in a maze, and listened to various parts of the brain "fire".

stinos 12y ago
The listening is still being done today in experiments. An experienced neurophysiologist (in the particular field of single cell recordings) can distinguish the sound of an actual braincell firing, or groups thereof, from all surrounding noise. Which is sometimes more convenient than recording the signal, feeding it into rather complicated template matching algorithms and waiting for results. Especially since braincells might die while being recorded from, so you have to decide quickly.

WorldWideWayne 12y ago

I was initially surprised to find that Beep is still available in the latest .NET framework (in multiple forms) because it just seems so archaic, but I guess the most basic audio feedback can still be useful. - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.console.beep%28v=vs.110%29.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.console.beep%... - http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kz27k38z%28v=vs.90%29.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/kz27k38z%28v=vs.90%2...