Mastering Debugging: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Code Errors

 

Debugging is a crucial skill for programmers as it assists them in detecting and fixing errors or bugs in their code. In this detailed guide, we will take you through an example of debugging a code snippet and emphasize the essential tactics and tools needed to master the art of debugging.

Understanding the Deliberate Bug

Let's begin with the code snippet that contains a deliberate bug, which results in an error message during execution. Here's the faulty code, When this code is executed, it triggers an error message due to the unexpected placement of return(outlier.vec) within the for loop.

Step 1: Identifying the Error

To identify the error, we can use the traceback function, which prints the list of functions called before the error occurred. Running traceback("tukey_multiple") reveals the location of the error just before return(outlier.vec).

Step 2: Using Debugging Tools

After locating the error, we implement the debug function to step through the code and identify any additional issues.

During debugging, we encounter errors such as missing arguments (x), and undefined functions (tukey.outlier). These errors are addressed by defining x as an argument and modifying the code to eliminate references to undefined functions.

Step 3: Rectifying the Errors

By rectifying each error methodically and testing the code with appropriate input (e.g., a matrix generated using matrix(rnorm(12), nrow = 3, ncol = 4)), we successfully debug the code and ensure it executes without errors.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, mastering debugging techniques empowers programmers to write cleaner, error-free code and enhances their problem-solving abilities in software development.

Happy debugging!

URL to my git repo : Debugging.R