Re: [Mingw-users] sorry to annoy you all, but i really need help

[Oscar F. <of...@wa...>]

"Wu Yongwei" <ad...@ne...> writes:

> Hey, don't mislead newbies.

....

> A debugger is a wonderful thing if you ever need to do some serious
> programming

Exactly: serious programming. But it's fequent use is an indication
that the programmer is not very serious... (A different thing is when
you need to fix bugs introduced by others).

> and is easier than manually inserting printfs or couts.

Yes, it's easier. On Real World scenarios, 'printf' wins. Ever tried
to use a debugger with a multi-threaded app?

> Just contrary to what you said, a debugger helps people understand
> how a program works.

If a beginner needs a debugger for understanding how the program
works, his learning system is flawed. Programming is about writing
specifications previously thought or known. If you face yourself often
using a debugger for understanding what your code does, better look
for a different job.
 
> I also think your "editor" advice is bad for newbies. They will just get
> frustrated.

Why? Type code, save, go to the command-line, compile, run, have
fun. Of course, a decent editor allows launching the compiler with a
keypress or a menu option and parses the compiler error messages in a
way that allows jumping to the signaled text position quickly.

> IDEs are just for newbies and GUI programming. I generally do
> not use an IDE because the above statement is not fit for me. A learner is
> different.

Precisely, a learner should know what's going on. He should know about
the edit->compile->link->run process. The IDE hides that.

From time to time I see some veteran MSVC++ or BCB programmer who
doesn't know how to build a simple multifile application from the
command line. Without the IDE they are lost. Pathetic.

OTOH, I use Emacs. It launches the compiler or MAKE and parses the
output nicely. You can run gdb on it. It's the best IDE I know.

> Do you never use a debugger?

On complex projects, when I can't see what's wrong looking at the
sources. If, after detecting the mistake with the debugger, it's not a
third-party bug, it's time for a long meditation about how to do for
not repeating the mistake.

-- 
Oscar