• Crow@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Ten years into casual programming and I still don’t know how to use a debugger.

    • erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Watch a Video or read something because it really is an invaluable tool. But here’s a crash course:

      Debuggers, or IDEs, let you step through your code in slo-mo so you can see what is happening.

      1. Set a breakpoint - Click to the left of a line of code so a red dot appears. Run your program, and the IDE will execute to that line, then pause.
      2. Look at variables’ values - While the execution is paused you can hover over variables before that line to see their value.
      3. Step through the code - See what happens next in slo-mo.
        • Use “Step Into” to enter into a function and see what that code does.
        • Use “Step Over” to not go into a function and continue in the current spot after the function has done its business.
        • Use “Step Out” to exit a function and pick up the execution after it has run. Use this when you’re in too deep and the code stops making sense.
      4. See whats in the heap - The heap will list all the functions that you’re currently inside of. You can jump to any of those points by clicking them.
      5. Set a watch - Keep a variable in the watch so you can see what its value is at all times.
      6. Set a condition on the breakpoint - If the breakpoint is inside a big loop, you can right-click on the red dot to create a conditional breakpoint, so you write something like x===3 and it will only pause when x is 3.

      There are many other things an IDE can do to help you, so def look into it more if you want to save yourself a lot of insanity. But this is a good starting point.

      If you’re developing for the web use F12 to open web tools, and when an error happens, click the file/line number to see that point in the Sources tab, and you can debug there.

        • erogenouswarzone@lemmy.ml
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          1 year ago

          Yes, but only because it gives you a link to where that was run. Click the link to the right with filename:lineNumber, and it will open the sources tab to that line. Set a breakpoint and rerun to pause there, then step through the code’s execution.

          Of course, if you’re using minified or processed code, this will be more difficult, in that case figure out how to do it in VS Code.

  • DerEineDa@feddit.de
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    1 year ago

    What is this meme about? “Competition”, “Leaderboard”, “Waiting for the timer to hit 0:00”? I am so confused.

    • shebpamm@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Competitive programming.

      Usually multiple algorithmic problems that are released to public at the same time and the fastest people to submit a correct solution get more points.

      A fun one I still like to participate in is advent of code, which is a yearly christmas themed one with two problems released a day during advent.

      If you want to seriously compete in competitive programming, you need to learn and memorize different problem types and the solutions to those. A bit like you start learning patterns in chess.

      For practicing, the CSES Problem Set is a gold mine for practice problems. Theres also a list of competitive programming books on the site.

      • DerEineDa@feddit.de
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        1 year ago

        That sounds exhausting. Maybe I am showing my age, but after 15 years as a software developer (now DevOps engineer) I feel absolutely no desire to spend my free time competing against others. Maybe I would’ve felt different about this back in the days.

        That being said, this meme still applies to regular software developers. I know plenty of people who match each of the shown stereotypes.

        • Johnny@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          Advent of Code is fun even without seriously competing (which, at least globally or in bigger communities is basically impossible unless you’re actually a proper competitive programmer). There’s no stakes and you can just do the challenges you feel like doing :)

    • ProfezzorDarke@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      It’s about coding competitions, and without me being directly involved in the scene (the closest I get to it are silly competitions regarding indy-games or decompiling old games or whatever) I did make personal acquaintance with every of those stereotypes, and it’s so true.

    • ParsnipWitch@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      From someone who had Chinese roommates: torture from their families, society and themselves.

      Sleep? 4 hours is enough. Do it in the library. Food? Has to go fast. Socializing? They better also be studying 24/7. Depression? You’re not my son/daughter anymore.