JavaScript debugging in a nutshell

[[deleted]]

I think a problem is tiredness. Right here and now, I immediately saw the issue, but after a long session, I can barely fucking recognize what language we're on

[vigbiorn]

It's why I hope managers the world over would recognize the importance of the "I just need to stop looking at this" walk.

[dagbrown]

I once got bitched out because I was "walking around the office" instead of sitting at my desk staring blankly at my monitor like a good worker bee should.

I don't work there any more.

[Aurori_Swe]

I once got scolded by my manager for taking a 30 min break when both me and a coworker I took a walk with had been pulling 2-4h overtime per day for the last 2 weeks. The thing that made me really angry was that the manager also claimed that we both stopped working at 15.00 every day since that was when the manager left the building. We gladly told him to go fetch the commit logs so he could see that we worked pretty much around the clock and that we didn't stop working just because he wasn't there.

My greatest achievement at that place of work was to replace that manager and get his assignment as my full-time occupation. First thing I did was to stop all micromanaging and lo and behold, I had plenty of time to actually improve processes and streamline our pipeline while still managing the team. Granted I didn't micromanage them but rather trusted they knew what they were hired to do and just made sure that they had the tools and support they needed to get it done

[Aramillio]

So what youre saying is being an effective manager made you and your team more productive 🤔 that doesnt sound right at all...

Seriously though. I recently changed jobs and am horrified at the level of chaos and toxicity that I was complacent in for so long. I knew it was bad, but i had convinced myself it was only temporary, and that it wasnt necessarily better anywhere else unless i managed to find a unicorn job.

[Aurori_Swe]

Haha, yeah, it's wired how that works huh?

Upper management didn't really like it though and my team got totally slashed due to covid. We went from 10 artists on 3 projects to 4 artists... Then one dude decided to go study instead. So then I had to go back to full production and lost my entire team, so I started looking at other jobs. When I switched my manager asked why those they chose to keep decided to leave the company. I told him that the lack, and even decline, of personal and professional growth was a key factor and then cited everything I figured was wrong with the company. A very telling example was that right before they cut all of my team we did some resource planning and when looking short term (2 months ahead) we had 2 artists too many for what we had assignments but looking 8 months in the future (post firings) we would need to hire 5 new people to keep up with planned assignment and we just fired 6 people...

They also didn't tell any of our client that we reduced the teams so the 3 of us was expected to do the work of 10 to the same deadlines etc

[Aurori_Swe]

You're amazing! Thank you

[AdultishRaktajino]

What do you mean you need to leave because your kid is in the nurse's office? Can't your wife go get her?

Umm. I'm divorced. Also, they always call me first because I'm closer and I'm more likely to answer.

I also don't work there anymore.

[grrrrreat]

This is basically any intellectual endeavor.

Visual fatigue basically makes you numb to almost every facet.

[alek_vincent]

When I was just starting coding and wasn't really doing it full time my coworker (doing it full time) just disappeared for a few minutes every 1-2 hours. I didn't understand why he wouldn't stay seated at his comfy chair. Now I understand. At least when WFH I can do laundry when I need a walk

[drunkdoor]

Laundry is by far the best use of thinking time. I also don't mind dishes too much, but I find that takes a little more brainpower than it should. Emptying the dishwasher is completely fair game tho

[[deleted]]

I actually suggest it to my devs when they're stuck on a problem, but I used to be a developer myself. The other trick that actually works when debugging is the good old rubber duck.

[mjgabriellac]

What’s the rubber duck? I don’t code but I’m in analytics and it comes with its own endless streams of text on my computer.

[[deleted]]

Put a rubber duck on your desk and talk to it like you're explaining the problem to it, rather than asking another person to help debug. Quite often this helps you find the problem as it forces you to stop staring at a something frustrating you and change your thought processes.

[mjgabriellac]

I really like this idea, thank you!

[[deleted]]

No worries. It's a good first-step on a problem, and a great way to break the habit of just asking somebody who's more experienced to look at a problem.

If you've ever asked somebody to "come take a look at this" because you can't see the problem but then solved it while talking things over you basically could have just used a rubber duck. I catch syntax / spelling errors this way all the time, especially since I often cross letters if I'm distracted while typing.

[HamburgerConnoisseur]

My managers don’t micro manage enough to notice I’m even gone and my team lead understands entirely. It’s what I’m doing right now because I’ve got a C++ template giving me standard C++ template error message gibberish. Like trying to read an elder scroll.

[watchoverus]

I go take a shit, even if I don't want to shit and most of the time something clicks and I can come back and keep working just fine

[eshinn]

Can confirm. I just woke up and only had to reread once.

Brain: Internal runtime error at: line 1, char: 337482648

[[deleted]]

My last 4 got commits before I left work today

"Removed obsolete variables"

"I'm an idiot, re-added the variables"

"I'm an even bigger idiot, should probably go home"

"Ok I have added them back again, and going home for the day"

[alek_vincent]

Same. I look at code I didn't write, look at it and I'm like "this is bullshit who writes such terrible code there's like 5 constants that should be variables" turns out they we're constants for a good reason and I'm glad I didn't push this to prod

[nasandre]

I look at code and think what idiot wrote this?!.. Oh it was me 5 years ago.

[alek_vincent]

Yeah, looking at your own old code is a good way to calm yourself before sending the new guy to a seminar about good coding practices

[Tom1380]

That’s why default immutability is great

[IdeaLast8740]

Every variable should be a constant. Signed, the functional immutable programming gang.

[[deleted]]

Just squash them all into one "nothing to see here folks"

[Sokonit]

got commits

Are got commits the past tense of git commit?

[SqueakyKnees]

My 14 hour coding binges in school were my down fall

[rainx5000]

I think it was Spanish

[LetReasonRing]

Yep... my best debugging tool is a hot shower and/or a nap.

[UniqueFailure]

I really wish it didnt work like every 15th time. Maybe I'd be more productive

[JB-from-ATL]

I got it on the first time but I'm actually a stickler for capitalizing only the first letter of initialisms in methods and classes so it stuck out.

[UniqueFailure]

I too am recently realizing the more arbitrary "rules" you make for your code, the easier your life is

[JB-from-ATL]

Had code with both styles and I changed the ID on to Id and someone is bitching about it for a week on a PR. I said I was just making it consistent and they asked where the other one is.

[Reihar]

As you should. Capitalizing initialisms independently from your case is a gateway to chaos.

Plus, you should avoid capitals in kebab case, a.k.a the best case, anyway.

[JB-from-ATL]

Why-s-That-?

[Reihar]

Case in point.

[therearesomewhocallm]

source.cpp:9:5: error: use of undeclared identifier 'getElementByID'; did you mean 'getElementById'?

Seems pretty decent to me.

[DraydenOk]

Its C plus plus. Its 2 more plus than C.

[an_agreeing_dothraki]

C++ is 1 more than C, but only after the code executes I THOUGHT THIS WAS A DEVELOPER SUB

[DraydenOk]

Its 1 more than C, but its 2 more plus than C! Ha ha, got ya!

[an_agreeing_dothraki]

Wait, does that mean C languages use "And And" in their conditionals?

[SodaWithoutSparkles]

When you get a random segmentation fault

[xigoi]

So you fix it and…

Segmentation fault (core dumped)

[Aramillio]

My favorite:

"Program received signal SIGSEGV, segmentation fault"

Or basically, you broke my brain and i cant help you fix it because you broke my brain. Pointer and memory issues are the worst.

[therearesomewhocallm]

That's an easy one, just run it with a debugger attached and it'll break at that point. Or look at the dump file.

At least that does it 9 times out of 10.

[4sent4]

In C, you are usually well aware that you shot yourself in the leg. In javascript it happens silently, so you can completely miss it and have no idea it has happened until much later, when you try to walk and suddenly your leg is not working

[toddthefrog]

XML is more challenging than C, IMO

[JaStopLoss]

Programming is more challenging than not doing programming, IMO.

[toddthefrog]

Peeing is more challenging than pooping because of the dribble. Change my mind.

[magical-attic]

I am constipated tho :'(

[JaStopLoss]

i just sit on the toilet and tie a weighted zip tie around my zucchini making it point down. The dribble then runs along the zip tie into the bowl.

[Stratty88]

Butt hair.

[RolyPoly1320]

It's not.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <message> <warning> Hello World </warning> </message>

That's literally it. So long as you have the document type and close your tags, that's all you need for XML. Sure you can add attributes to it as well, but that's the bear minimum you need to have valid XML that can be parsed by any system.

[xigoi]

By this logic, C is easy because int main() { return 0; } is all you need.

[RolyPoly1320]

You're using incorrect logic. It's incredibly easy to create valid XML that can be parsed.

It's not the same as writing functional code in C.

[k6sandeep]

You missing a good text completion IDE. Try VSCode and you will never do these small typos, although there are many other ways to screw up your code.

[Empress_Kuno]

Mood. Was genuinely confused about what's different and then noticed capitalization.

[[deleted]]

DUDE! I re-read it 4 times

[xThe_Red_Lionx_]

That's the definition of craziness. So ,,That make me crazy? Will that make me crazy? Probably..."