Debugging Basics

Debugging is the systematic process of finding why a program behaves differently from what you expect.

Beginner

A practical approach:

Reproduce the bug reliably.
Read the error message — it usually names the file and line.
Narrow it down — print values (print, Serial.println) or use a debugger to step through code and inspect variables.
Form a hypothesis, change one thing, test again.
Write a test so the bug can't silently return.

Tools: IDE debuggers, gdb, Python's pdb, and for microcontrollers a hardware debugger over SWD/JTAG with breakpoints.

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