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Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

How to Get Better at Debugging

Syntax - Tasty Web Development Treats

Wes Bos

Js, Technology, Css, Html5, Tech News, Webdevelopment, News, Javascript, Html

4.9 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2018

⏱️ 57 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Scott and Wes detail the tips and tools you need to get better at debugging.

Freshbooks - Sponsor

Get a 30 day free trial of Freshbooks at freshbooks.com/syntax and put SYNTAX in the “How did you hear about us?” section.

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Show Notes

4:00

  • Read the stack trace

7:35

  • Make sure you aren’t debugging production
  • Make sure you’re not cached

8:40

  • Check the network panel for the whole response
  • CORS (Cross-Origin Resource Sharing)

12:04

  • Use debugger commands in the browser
  • Set breakpoints (race conditions

13:40

  • Use Source Maps

15:29

  • Make full use of all console methods
    • console.group/groupEnd/info/
    • console.log({objNAme})

17:02

  • View your code in other browers
  • Make sure your browser is up to date

18:50

  • Step into and step over function
  • Useful for especially tricky issues

19:47

  • Look into Scope in dev tools panel

20:33

  • Recreate it in CodePen or Create React App
    • Helps to quarantine your code
    • Verify where the problem actually is

24:12

  • Take a break
    • Helps clear your head and approach your problem from a different angle

25:40

  • Rubber Duck Debugging
    • Forcing yourself to talk it out will often reveal problems/issues

26:40

  • Check Github issues / ask in Slack
    • Leave your solution in the comments for others

28:12

  • Use Node --inspect flag

29:57

  • Read the code in your libs (if you can)

32:34 - Chrome Dev Tools Tabs Rundown

  • 33:10 - Network tab
  • 34:15 - Preformance tab
  • 35:58 - Lesser known tools
    • 36:15 - Firefox Grid Debug
    • 36:20 - Firefox Fonts tab
    • 37:10 - More tools (three dots menu in top right of Chrome Dev Tools window)
    • 37:39 - Chrome Animations Inspector
    • 38:34 - /dev tips & Modern DevTools Course
    • 39:41 - Chrome & FF Layers for 3d and full view of canvas & window
    • 40:51 - Sensors for overriding fake devices sensors
      • Hot tip: Use Instagram on the desktop - Go to Instagram and set the user agent to iPad and it will work as it does on that actual device
      • Hot tip: Get free internet on a plane - If the airplane offers free internet for a certain device, change your user agent to that device and then switch back
    • 43:12 - Favorite DevTools extensions
  • 44:06 - Application/Storage tab
  • 44:41 - FireFox Grid Inspector

Ă—Ă—Ă— SIIIIICK Ă—Ă—Ă— PIIIICKS Ă—Ă—Ă—

  • Scott: Hotel Tonight App
  • Wes: Coffee table - If you’re trying to build an outdoor coffee table, use a peice of granite

Shameless Plugs

Tweet us your tasty treats!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

You're listening to Syntax, the podcast with the tastiest web development treats out there.

0:06.0

Strap yourself in and get ready.

0:08.0

Here is Scott Tolinsky and West Boss.

0:10.5

Hello everybody and welcome to Syntax the podcast with the tastiest web development treats.

0:15.6

Today we are talking about debugging.

0:17.8

Here are some we're going to go through like first we're going to go through some tips.

0:21.2

How do you get good at debugging? How do you tackle a problem

0:24.3

that seems impossible to fix and go through these steps to actually figure out what it is? And

0:28.9

then we'll go through some of the tools that we actually use to make debugging and development easy.

0:33.6

Today's episode is sponsored by two awesome companies.

0:36.3

First one is Fresh Books.

0:37.8

They provide awesome Cloud accounting software.

0:40.2

And the second is Coffee Cup software,

0:42.2

but more specifically, they just launched a CSS-crit design tool.

0:47.2

And we'll talk a little bit more about that part way through the episode.

0:50.9

It's actually pretty sweet. I know that you think immediately

0:53.7

you think about a design tool you think back to like a dream lever or something like that

0:58.6

and that's what I did too but I actually checked it out and the codeoda puts out is pretty pretty sweet so we'll talk

1:06.3

part way through them part way through the episode. How you doing today Scott?

1:11.1

Hey I'm doing good I just came back from a long trip. I went to Romania for a conference, and I am exhausted.

1:19.3

Definitely taking a little while to recover here. But everyone will be happy to know there is a terrible part two

1:26.2

to my health adventures, which is actually sort of related

...

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