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Debugging Tools (cont)

Debugging is like detective work ...

DetectingDebugging
Examine the crime scence Examine the output
Form a hypothesis
(what happened? whodunnit?)
Form a hypothesis
(what might have caused this behaviour?)
Look for clues
(to strengthen hypothesis)
Look at code
(to strengthen hypothesis)
Gather evidence Observe program behaviour**
If hypothesis supported,
arrest the perpetrator
If hypothesis supported,
change code to fix problem

** A debugging tool like gdb or qtspim (once we get to MIPS programming) can help with this.