how to never write bug
Summary
TLDRThis humorous video script offers seven universal debugging tips for developers, emphasizing the importance of reading documentation, understanding error messages, and using tools like Google and logging. It humorously touches on the rarity of bugs in hardware and the laws of quantum superposition, before diving into practical advice on using debuggers, reproducing issues, automated testing, and static analysis tools. The script concludes with a bonus tip: taking a break can lead to breakthroughs in solving stubborn bugs.
Takeaways
- 😇 The ideal of an efficient programmer is to avoid bugs, but it's nearly impossible due to various factors.
- 🔍 Most of the time, issues arise from one's own code or team members' contributions, with only a tiny fraction due to external libraries or hardware.
- 📚 Reading documentation is crucial to understand what functions and methods actually do, rather than assuming based on their names.
- 🤔 Error messages can be cryptic, but they are essential to understand and should guide debugging efforts instead of ignoring them.
- 🔍 Google is a powerful tool for translating error messages and finding solutions, but it requires careful use to avoid overwhelming results.
- 📝 Logging is a straightforward debugging method that involves printing data to verify the application's behavior.
- 🐞 Debuggers are advanced tools that allow for code execution control and inspection, making it easier to pinpoint and understand bugs.
- 🔬 Creating a minimal reproduction of a bug can help in understanding and solving the issue, and it's also useful for seeking help from others.
- 🛠 Automated testing and test-driven development can prevent regressions and provide confidence when making changes to the code.
- 🧩 Static analysis tools like TypeScript or ESLint can catch bugs before they become problems by enforcing code quality and type safety.
- 💆♂️ Sometimes, taking a break from a stubborn bug can lead to a fresh perspective and a quicker resolution.
Q & A
What is the primary key to becoming an efficient programmer according to the video?
-The primary key to becoming an efficient programmer, as mentioned in the video, is to never write any bugs, although it acknowledges that this is virtually impossible.
What does the video suggest is the most common cause of code not working as expected?
-The video suggests that 99% of the time, the code not working as expected is the programmer's own code to blame.
What should a programmer do when encountering a bug that is not their own code's fault?
-When a bug is not the programmer's own code's fault, they can either open an issue on the GitHub repository of the library causing the issue, fix it themselves and open a pull request, or build their own new library from scratch.
What does the video imply about the rarity of bugs that are due to the programming language or compiler itself?
-The video implies that bugs due to the programming language or compiler itself are quite rare, happening only 0.0099% of the time.
What is the video's humorous take on the possibility of bugs being due to the laws of quantum superposition?
-The video humorously suggests that bugs that are due to the laws of quantum superposition are extremely rare and can be considered as 'God's will' that the code shall not work, happening only 0.00099% of the time.
What is the first debugging tip provided in the video?
-The first debugging tip provided in the video is to read the documentation, as programmers often guess what a method or function is doing based on its name without actually checking the documentation.
Why is it important to understand error messages and stack traces when debugging?
-Understanding error messages and stack traces is important because it eliminates the guesswork in debugging and helps pinpoint the exact moment a bug occurs.
What is the role of Google in translating and understanding error messages during debugging?
-Google is a powerful tool that can help translate and understand error messages by searching for keywords and relevant information, but it requires the programmer to parse the error and remove anything unique to their project for better search results.
What are some of the benefits of using logging for debugging?
-Logging allows developers to print out different pieces of data from their application to manually verify that it's running as expected. It's a simple method that works and can be enhanced with various logging features like console count, timers, and table formatting.
How can debuggers in modern IDEs and editors help in debugging complex code?
-Debuggers in modern IDEs and editors allow developers to observe and execute their code at scale, traverse through stack frames, pause execution at any time, and set up breakpoints without modifying the code, which makes debugging more efficient and less error-prone.
What is the purpose of creating a minimal reproduction of a bug?
-Creating a minimal reproduction of a bug helps in isolating the issue and understanding the root cause. It also provides an example that can be shared with other programmers for assistance if the problem cannot be solved independently.
What is the significance of automated testing in the debugging process?
-Automated testing is significant in the debugging process as it helps ensure that new code changes do not introduce bugs, provides confidence in the code's functionality, and aids in identifying and fixing existing bugs by writing tests that define the expected behavior.
How can static analysis tools like TypeScript or ESLint help prevent bugs in code?
-Static analysis tools like TypeScript or ESLint help prevent bugs by analyzing the code without executing it, identifying potential issues, enforcing a type system, and improving code quality, thus making it more difficult to introduce errors.
What is the bonus tip provided by the video for dealing with stubborn bugs?
-The bonus tip provided by the video is to take a break from the computer, go outside, get some exercise, and enjoy the sun. This can help refresh the mind and often leads to solving the bug upon returning to it.
Outlines
😅 The Humorous Reality of Programming Bugs
This paragraph humorously addresses the inevitability of encountering bugs in programming. It suggests that most of the time, issues arise from one's own code or from teammates, but occasionally they stem from external libraries or even the programming language itself. The speaker humorously touches on the idea that in extremely rare cases, hardware or quantum superposition might be to blame. The paragraph introduces seven universal debugging tips, emphasizing the importance of reading documentation to avoid misunderstandings about functions and methods. It also highlights the value of understanding error messages and using tools like Google for troubleshooting.
🔍 Advanced Debugging Techniques and Taking Breaks
The second paragraph delves into advanced debugging strategies, starting with the use of logging to print out data and verify the application's behavior. It then discusses the utility of debuggers in modern IDEs, which allow developers to pause execution, inspect variables, and avoid code pollution from excessive console logs. The speaker also recommends creating minimal reproductions of bugs to better understand and share them with others. Additionally, the paragraph touches on the challenges of Heisenberg bugs that cannot be reproduced and the importance of regression testing to catch new issues. The speaker introduces the concept of static analysis tools like TypeScript and ESLint to prevent bugs before they occur. Finally, the paragraph humorously concludes with a bonus tip to take a break, suggesting that stepping away from a problem can often lead to a swift resolution upon return.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Efficient Programmer
💡Bugs
💡Documentation
💡Error Messages
💡Logging
💡Debuggers
💡Reproduction
💡Automated Testing
💡Static Analysis
💡Regression
💡Break
Highlights
The key to becoming an efficient programmer is to avoid writing bugs, but it's nearly impossible.
99% of the time, code issues are due to the programmer's own mistakes.
0.99% of the time, issues arise from teammates' code.
0.0099% of the time, bugs are due to third-party libraries from npm.
For 0.00099% of the time, the programming language or compiler is to blame.
Hardware issues are blamed for 0.00001% of the time.
0.000099% of the time, code incompatibility with quantum superposition is the issue.
Seven universal debugging tips are discussed for developers.
Reading documentation is crucial to understand what methods or functions are doing.
Error messages should be understood rather than ignored or changed blindly.
Google is a powerful tool for translating and understanding error messages.
Logging is an effective way to debug by printing out data from the application.
Debuggers in IDEs allow for observing and executing code at scale.
Creating a minimal reproduction of a bug can help in understanding and solving it.
Automated testing and test-driven development can prevent regressions and catch bugs early.
Static analysis tools like TypeScript or ESLint can prevent bugs before they occur.
Taking a break can often lead to solving a bug that was previously difficult to tackle.
The humorous suggestion of the only programming language in hell being Java.
Transcripts
the key to becoming an efficient
programmer is to never write any bugs
unfortunately that's virtually
impossible when your code doesn't work
as expected 99 of the time it's your own
code to blame you cannot blame all me
however about 0.99 of the time it's the
pulse of somebody else on your team and
you can get pissed off at them
accordingly
but the other .0099 of the time it's a
bug in some shady Library you downloaded
from npm which means you'll have to open
up an issue on its GitHub repo or fix it
yourself and open a pull request or just
build your own new library from scratch
however the other point zero zero zero
zero nine nine percent of the time it's
the programming language or compiler
itself to blame in which case you'll
need to get in touch with some people
much smarter than yourself who determine
it's not a bug with a compiler but it's
an edge case that happens
.00099 of the time and the actual
Hardware is to blame like one transistor
was placed just a few nanometers to the
left and that's why your website doesn't
look quite right on a Blackberry but the
hardware people say it's not their fault
it's actually just an edge case that
happens point zero zero zero zero zero
zero one percent of the time where your
code is just not compatible with the
laws of quantum superposition due to a
defect in the simulation in which we
live in other words it's God's will that
thou code shall not work luckily bugs
like this are pretty rare and in today's
video we'll look at seven universal
debugging tips that every developer
should be familiar with the first tip is
to read that may seem stupidly obvious
but programmers want to get things done
quickly and tend to be overconfident in
their understanding of what the hell the
computer is actually doing what will
often happen is you'll guess what a
method or function is doing based on its
name but remember there are only two
hard problems in computer science naming
things and coming up with new original
jokes for YouTube tutorials like there
might be a function called get random
number you automatically think it's
always going to return a different
number but when you call it it returns
three every time it's not a bug because
had you read the documentation you know
that 3 is a random number that was
chosen by the developer in advance who
guaranteed that it was 100 random when
he chose it with the roll of a die
reading documentation in advance is
important but developers also tend to
skip right over error messages when
first learning to code you get these big
cryptic error messages that seem totally
overwhelming so instead of reading it
you just try to change up your code
until the message goes away that might
work sometimes but you'd be much better
off learning how to understand the error
messages and go through a stack Trace
because that will eliminate the
guesswork now most of the time even
after you read the error you'll still
have no idea what it's talking about
luckily there's a very powerful tool
that can help you translate it called
Google but when it comes to error
messages you don't want to just paste
the entire error message with the full
stack Trace into Google Googling as a
software engineer is an art form you'll
want to First parse the error and remove
anything that's unique to your actual
project Google is pretty good at
ignoring things that are unnecessary but
the more you can do to point it in the
right direction the better if the
keywords on the air are pretty generic
you might also want to add the name of
your language or framework to the
beginning just to limit the number of
results I couldn't imagine living
without Google and stack Overflow but at
some point you'll hit a wall and have to
do some good old-fashioned honest
programming the easiest way to approach
debugging is with logging where you
simply print out different pieces of
data from your application to manually
verify that it's running as expected
it's not very sophisticated but it works
a JavaScript beginner might use console
log to print out every single variable
but your logger probably has more tricks
up its sleeve like JavaScript has
console count to keep a running counter
in your code or timer to measure time
and table to format things in a more
user-friendly way you can also log at
different levels like info warning and
error to organize the priority of this
data and use console dir to display it
as a hierarchy the bottom line is that
logging is a perfectly acceptable way to
debug and you should take some time to
learn the full API of a logger in your
language to maximize its efficacy the
problem with logging though is that it
gets harder and harder to do as your
code grows larger and more complex
luckily modern Ides and editors have
tools that can help you observe and
execute your code at scale these tools
are called debuggers and there's one
integrated directly into vs code it
allows you to Traverse through frames in
the coal stack which means you can
pinpoint the exact moment a bug occurs
it's possible to pause the execution of
your code at any time using a debugger
statement or better yet you can use the
IDE to set up breakpoints that don't
require any modifications to the actual
code in addition it eliminates the need
to pollute your code with console logs
everywhere because instead you can just
add log points by clicking next to the
line of code that you want to log so
basically a debugger is just a more
sophisticated way to run and inspect
your code eventually you'll find a bug
that you just cannot fix when that
happens it can sometimes help to not
focus on a solution but figure out a way
to reproduce the problem with a minimal
amount of code like start an entirely
new project where the only goal is to
make this problem happen and bonus
points if you can reproduce it somewhere
like stack Blitz where anyone can run it
instantly in a browser creating a
reproduction has several benefits one
there's a good chance you'll solve the
problem when going through it and two if
you don't find the root problem you now
have an example that you can share with
better programmers if you can't reliably
reproduce a problem it's nearly
impossible for anyone else to help you
out unfortunately not every bug can be
reproduced which is called a Heisenberg
there's a great story about the Crash
Bandicoot video game where the load say
feature would work perfectly almost
every time but every once in a while it
would time out and wipe out the entire
memory card after six weeks of trying to
debug this one issue they were
eventually able to reproduce it by
wiggling the PS1 controller a certain
way to corrupt the memory card it was
one of those rare cases where the
hardware was at fault another very
common type of bug that is very
frustrating is one that happens after
your code was working perfectly before
this is called a regression which means
you wrote some new code that [ __ ]
something up at a certain point it
becomes impossible for a human to verify
that everything works properly after
every code change and that's where
automated testing comes in or test
driven Development I've made many videos
in the past about testing but the
general idea is that you write code to
make sure that your other code is
working as expected most importantly it
gives you the confidence that you're not
introducing new bugs when you make
changes but it can also help in the
debugging process when you encounter a
bug instead of trying to fix it right
away you can go straight to writing a
test this forces you to be explicit
about what you're actually trying to
make the code do and in the process
you'll likely learn things about your
code that you didn't understand
previously and finally after you get the
test to pass you'll be protected from
reintroducing the same bug another way
to catch bugs before they become a
problem is to use a tool that performs
some type of static analysis on your
code in the case of JavaScript the most
common way to do that is to use
typescript which adds an entire type
system on top of the language which may
makes it far more difficult to introduce
stupid bugs like using the wrong
variable name somewhere or assigning the
wrong data type because the typescript
compiler won't even let you run your
code when you make mistakes like this
the drawback is that typescript can be a
pretty big investment and you may not
want to add it to your code base in that
case consider adding eslint by itself to
your project it also performs static
analysis and attempts to improve your
code quality and requires very little
effort on your part that gives us seven
different ways to debug code but I have
one more bonus tip for you which is to
turn off your computer and take a break
if I had a dollar for every time I was
fighting a bug then went and took a
break and came back and immediately
solved it I would have a shitload of
dollars I like to go outside get some
exercise and bask in the Sun and enjoy a
smooth and flavorful Marlboro cigarette
Marlboro may surprise you it's the
filter cigarette with the unfiltered
taste on second thought you may want to
skip the cigarette unless your goal is
to die a horrible agonizing death and if
you go to hell the only programming
language they have down there is Java
thanks for watching and I will see you
in the next one
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