At 9:57 AM +0100 7/5/02, Lindsay Marshall wrote: >(oops I think I sent a copy of the message -badly designed web mail >interfaces to blame....) > > >>The strategy I usually apply is an experimental scientific method, >>sort of. I think the process of de-bugging is essentially the >>same as scientific research -- trying to find the cause of things. >>You change something (the independent variable) and notice the >>result (the dependent variable). The challenge is to make this >>process as fast and efficient as possible. > >Whilst this sounds like a valid way to approach the problem, I think >that there is much more to it than this. "you change something" is a >very big thing - how do you decide what to change?
In scientific research you start with a hypothesis, which can be a guess based on intuition. Until you start trying things (and/or reading about what others have tried), you really don't know what's going on, and it can be very hard to decide where to start. In de-bugging things are usually a lot simpler because the thing you are investigating is man-made and, unlike natural phenomena, can ultimately be understood by any human being with enough time and patience. But there are times when I'm at a complete loss and then I may resort to random trial and error, just to get started. >In fact once you have decided what to change you are well on the way >to finding the problem (in most cases)! Not necessarily. The first experiment may rule out a whole bunch of possibilities, and then you have to decide what to change next and this process may go on for a long time. >You certainly don't change stuff at random and hope to get lucky. Yes, once in a while. And there is usually an element of randomness involved, even when I already have a sense of direction. >So it seems to me that the hard part of the process is this first >bit. In fact when I am debugging I rarely change things in this way >until I think I am near to solving the problem and then it is really >just a way of verifying my analysis. I guess changing things might help me think. Looking at the code usually doesn't help me at all. PC > > >- Automatic footer for [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe discuss >To join the announcements list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe announce >To receive a help file, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] help >This list is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/ >If you have any problems or questions, please mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] - Automatic footer for [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] unsubscribe discuss To join the announcements list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe announce To receive a help file, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] help This list is archived at http://www.mail-archive.com/discuss%40ppig.org/ If you have any problems or questions, please mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
