To debug code, I read it. All of it. Without trying to process it. Sometimes the bugs jump out at me. Not the only way I debug but it has its place.
One consulting project involved 900 modules in 200 directories. I opened modules and skimmed through, and the bugs were just everywhere. (No, not false-positives. Once flagged, you can read carefully and prove the bug). I abandoned that source base as unredeemable and wrote a simple 10-module driver to replace it. (The customer rejected it, couldn't believe I could be right. They hired somebody else, the product was cancelled and recalled 9 months later).
Not having a clear-structured and measured method doesn't equal to not having any method any relying purely on your subconscious. Sounds more like you were parsing through the code and lots of typical hints such cesspools usually have made it pretty clear very quickly.
Perhaps. But I page through the code faster than I can register the details. Just the 'shape of it' gets through. Not really time for parsing. So some subconscious element must be in play.
Comments
To debug code, I read it. All of it. Without trying to process it. Sometimes the bugs jump out at me. Not the only way I debug but it has its place.
One consulting project involved 900 modules in 200 directories. I opened modules and skimmed through, and the bugs were just everywhere. (No, not false-positives. Once flagged, you can read carefully and prove the bug). I abandoned that source base as unredeemable and wrote a simple 10-module driver to replace it. (The customer rejected it, couldn't believe I could be right. They hired somebody else, the product was cancelled and recalled 9 months later).
Not having a clear-structured and measured method doesn't equal to not having any method any relying purely on your subconscious. Sounds more like you were parsing through the code and lots of typical hints such cesspools usually have made it pretty clear very quickly.
Perhaps. But I page through the code faster than I can register the details. Just the 'shape of it' gets through. Not really time for parsing. So some subconscious element must be in play.