[Tutor] IDE - Editors - Python

[Tim Johnson]

* Danny Yoo <dyoo at hkn.eecs.berkeley.edu> [060206 09:57]:
> >   <grin> Avoid debuggers like a plague. If someone applies for a job
> >          with us and starts talking about their proficiency in
> >          debuggers, the interview stops right there and we keep looking.
> 
> Hi Tim,
 
  Hey Danny:

> Seriously?  I know that the implication is that sufficient test cases and

  Not entirely seriously Danny. Did you notice the <grin> tag? <grin>

  What I am getting at is a preoccuption with debuggers to a fault,
  and we've seen it all too often.

> design will ferret out bugs, but this attitude toward debuggers surprises
> me.  Steve McConnell, author of Code Complete, makes it a point to
> recommend running any new code through a debugger just to force the
> programmer to dig though the abstractions to see what the program's
> actually doing at a low level.
 
  Actually, that is where I would be digging out a debugger. If I had to
  work off of someone else's code base. I'd consider that to be a more
  efficient way of tracking the process flow without modifying the
  original code.

> In particular, I've found a debugger invaluable in diving through old C
> code that I have not written.  

  Definitely!

> Admittedly, I don't use debuggers in
> Python, but I do see the value in forcing oneself to jump levels of
> abstraction.  But maybe this approach is obsolete now and I'm just an old
> fuddy-duddy.  *grin*

  You're not. Just look for *my* <grin>s
  tj

-- 
Tim Johnson <tim at johnsons-web.com>
      http://www.alaska-internet-solutions.com