Principles of Debugging

Scientific Approach

Developing a hypothesis

 You have a problem in your hand but you are not quite sure about the solution. What do you do? Develop a hypothesis of your solution. You may have many solutions in your mind — but select the most appropriate. WRITE IT DOWN. Also, think of the hypothesis as a hypothesis — not a solution, not a diagnosis. It is a guess which can easily be wrong.

Falsifying a hypothesis

This is what we mean by the scientific method. In science, when scientists come up with a hypothesis but they don’t try to prove that it is right. Rather, they try to prove that it is wrong — they try to negate/falsify it. If it is negated, the hypothesis undergoes changes, until a non-negated hypothesis is created. So, come up with your own hypothesis and do your best to negate it.

Operating Hypothesis

Now, after you have applied all the different hypotheses, you are supposed to come up with a hypothesis that cannot be negated. This is a non-falsifiable hypothesis, your strongest one yet. Now, you can consider this hypothesis as a potential fix. Why is the word ‘potential’ being used here? Well, the fix is also a guess. It can go wrong easily and so, you cannot consider it as a diagnosis. Rather, you have to understand it as another hypothesis which stood the battery of tests and has passed to become properly tested as a fix. For now, this is your best guess — hence, your effective fix.

Testing out the fix 

Now, your hypothesis becomes a fix. This time, you come up with a new hypothesis: “My fix worked”. Go back to step one. Try to negate this hypothesis as well.

Slow Down

As you can see that the debugging process can get quite complicated over time. So, don’t rush through it — it will only cause more problems and slow down the debugging process. Go slow and be careful — it will increase your chances of becoming correct.

Refer to know about :  What is debugging