Debugging by Writing

The best debugging tool I know is not a debugger. It is a blank document and the willingness to look foolish.

When I am stuck on a bug, I open a new file and write down what I think is happening. Not code. Sentences. I explain the problem as if someone else were going to read it. Almost every time, the act of translating confusion into words reveals the gap in my understanding.

This is rubber duck debugging without the duck. The document does not judge. It just sits there and forces me to be specific.

Sometimes the answer arrives in the first paragraph. Sometimes I realize I have been asking the wrong question. Either way, writing is cheaper than an hour of trial and error.

I keep a folder called debugging full of these half-finished explanations. They are some of the most useful things I have written.