[Tutor] print stack traces not caused by errors

[Alan Gauld]

"Corey Richardson" <kb1pkl at aim.com> wrote 

>> And of course print statements work too within the console
>> window.
> 
> I've done almost all my debugging via print statements at crucial
> points. It's a good way to go, IMO.

It's a good way to go for short simple programs.
The big disadvantage is that the larger the program the more 
prints you need to insert. Then you have to take them all out 
again before shipping the final version. That's a lot of potentially 
error prone work. Plus a lot of print statements can slow code 
down which can be important where interaction with external 
systems/networks is important. A debugger usually has a 
much less invasive impact performance wise.

Using a proper debugger allows you to dynamically "print" 
anything at any point in your program without leaving a 
footprint in your code when you are finished.

Both print and debug have their place, my personal preference 
is a few print statements but if it gets to more than 3 or 4 then 
I move to the debugger. And a decent GUI debugger is *much* 
easier to use than pdg/gdb etc

And of course a critical visual review of the code is the first 
step of all!

-- 
Alan Gauld
Author of the Learn to Program web site
http://www.alan-g.me.uk/