<story><title>Why Isn&apos;t Debugging Treated as a First-Class Activity?</title><url>https://robert.ocallahan.org/2018/07/why-isnt-debugging-treated-as-first.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>josephv</author><text>The omission is interesting only in that it highlights that programming and debugging are one in the same.&lt;p&gt;Us old folks that have been programming for 20 years don&amp;#x27;t even separate the two, there is no meaningful distinction. Programming is not a write-only operation (Perl excepted).&lt;p&gt;If it&amp;#x27;s an existing project&amp;#x2F;product, I get it running and find the entry point. If it&amp;#x27;s new, I write and entry point and get it running. Then I change something, or write something, and debug it. Is it working as expected? Maybe the execution flow isn&amp;#x27;t what I expected. Why do I always forget to initialize things right. Probably because every language thinks their version of native v. abstract references are fancier.&lt;p&gt;Blah, I need to get to work cod... debug.... what am I doing today? Ah yea, writing documentation. Fack</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kps</author><text>&lt;i&gt;“By June 1949 people had begun to realize that it was not so easy to get programs right as at one time appeared. I well remember when this realization first came on me with full force.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;The EDSAC was on the top floor of the building and the tape-punching and editing equipment one floor below. […] It was on one of my journeys between the EDSAC room and the punching equipment that ‘hesitating at the angles of stairs’ the realization came over me with full force that a good part of the remainder of my life was going to be spent in finding errors in my own programs.”&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;— Sir Maurice Wilkes</text></comment>
<story><title>Why Isn&apos;t Debugging Treated as a First-Class Activity?</title><url>https://robert.ocallahan.org/2018/07/why-isnt-debugging-treated-as-first.html</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>josephv</author><text>The omission is interesting only in that it highlights that programming and debugging are one in the same.&lt;p&gt;Us old folks that have been programming for 20 years don&amp;#x27;t even separate the two, there is no meaningful distinction. Programming is not a write-only operation (Perl excepted).&lt;p&gt;If it&amp;#x27;s an existing project&amp;#x2F;product, I get it running and find the entry point. If it&amp;#x27;s new, I write and entry point and get it running. Then I change something, or write something, and debug it. Is it working as expected? Maybe the execution flow isn&amp;#x27;t what I expected. Why do I always forget to initialize things right. Probably because every language thinks their version of native v. abstract references are fancier.&lt;p&gt;Blah, I need to get to work cod... debug.... what am I doing today? Ah yea, writing documentation. Fack</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>corey_moncure</author><text>Right.  Reading through code is just executing it on a high level, and very fuzzy and forgetful, virtual machine in your own brain.</text></comment>