Remember when we used to debug with print statements everywhere?

Back in 2015, I would litter my Python scripts with 30 or 40 print() calls just to find a single bug, then delete them all manually. Now I use a proper debugger with breakpoints in VS Code, which saves me about 2 hours per project. Does anyone else miss the simple chaos of the old way, or is it just me?

3 comments

3 Comments

henry1504d ago

All those print statements felt like leaving breadcrumbs through a maze.

miaprice4d ago

Exactly this. Every single print statement was a tiny checkpoint, proof I was still on the right path and not completely lost in the dark. Debugging like that feels like you're just throwing random breadcrumbs down and hoping they lead somewhere, not really knowing if they'll help or just make you more confused. And then you hit that one bug that's so deep you need twenty breadcrumbs just to figure out what's even happening, and half of them just show you the same wrong thing over and over. It's messy but it works for me, especially when I'm too fried to use actual debugging tools properly. Sometimes the simplest dumbest method is the only way your brain can handle it.

parker_hall53d ago

Leaving breadcrumbs through a maze" is actually a pretty solid way to put it. Only thing is breadcrumbs are passive, you drop them and hope they lead back. Print statements are more active, you're literally interrogating the code at each step. Still gets the point across though.