From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,78a1af350f4cf4b X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Charles Hixson Subject: Re: Win2000 has 63,000 'defects' Date: 2000/03/06 Message-ID: <38C3D03D.FD5D39D1@earthlink.net>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 593842152 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit References: <38A989B7.2D4D6B56@maths.unine.ch> <2000Feb15.143333.1@eisner> <2000Feb15.155800.1@eisner> <150220001931201946%emery@grebyn.com> <88hbpp$j4i$1@news.btv.ibm.com> <88ma3c$p6a$1@nnrp1.deja.com> <2000Feb21.071938.1@eisner> <38C09E9F.2C752521@earthlink.net> X-Accept-Language: en Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Complaints-To: abuse@earthlink.net X-Trace: newsread2.prod.itd.earthlink.net 952356944 198.94.156.19 (Mon, 06 Mar 2000 07:35:44 PST) Organization: EarthLink Inc. -- http://www.EarthLink.net MIME-Version: 1.0 NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 07:35:44 PST Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 2000-03-06T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: "Robert I. Eachus" wrote: > -- snip > So there are really two styles of programming. One, which may or may > not be fine for computer games, etc., relies on debugging quality in. > The other relies on building it in in the first place. Most Ada > programmers are used to the second style, which is why we seldom (if > ever!) use a debugger. Somehow I tend to feel that both extremes are wrong here. Yes, one should write the best code that one can. Yes, one should include all reasonable error checks. (A few kind words for Design By Contract go here.) But one still needs debugging tools. The less you use them, the friendlier they need to be. Once upon a time I used to read core dumps, but I haven't looked at one in the last 10 years. I haven't written assembler in the last 15+. So to help me much debugger needs to be symbolic, and tied in a useful way to the source level of the code that it is being applied to.