7 Common Techniques to Improve Your Debugging Skills

When we work on Rails upgrades, most of the time we have to solve issues after updating the gems. These problems can go from simple and straightforward to really complex and hard to debug. Here we will discuss different skills and techniques that we use to complete the upgrade.Basic things which you should always doAsk yourself and others simple or stupid questions. Try to make sure you know what you are fixing.Take a close look at an error log or stack trace.If you are not sure how or where to start, add debug breakpoints or puts statements in the code. This will help you understand the code workflow.Write down your understanding or have a Rubber duck conversation. (The idea is that when a programmer needs to debug their code, they should explain the program line-by-line to a rubber duck. Often, the act of explaining the problem step by step will cause the solution to present itself)Pair with someone and discuss your findings.Check documentation for the issues you are having.Take a break :) and divert your focus temporarily to something else. Then come back and follow the above steps.