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-# Intro to Debuggers
-
-(Written largely because newbies in [##java](http://evanchooly.com) never seem
-to have this knowledge.)
-
-A “debugger” is a mechanism for monitoring and controlling the execution of
-your program, usually interactively. Using a debugger, you can stop your
-program at known locations and examine the _actual_ values of its variables
-(to compare against what you expected), monitor variables for changes (to see
-where they got the values they have, and why), and step through code a line at
-a time (to watch control flow and verify that it matches your expectations).
-
-Pretty much every worthwhile language has debugging support of some kind,
-whether it's via IDE integration or via a command-line debugger.
-
-(Of course, none of this helps if you don't have a mental model of the
-“expected” behaviour of the program. Debuggers can help you read, but can't
-replace having an understanding of the code.)
-
-## Debugging Your First Program
-
-Generally, you start running a debugger because you have a known problem -- an
-exception, or code behaving strangely -- somewhere in your program that you
-want to investigate more closely. Start by setting a _breakpoint_ in your
-program at a statement slightly before the problem area.
-
-Breakpoints are instructions to the debugger, telling it to stop execution
-when the program reaches the statement the breakpoint is set on.
-
-Run the program in the debugger. When it reaches your breakpoint, execution
-will stop (and your program will freeze, rather than exiting). You can now
-_inspect_ values and run expressions in the context of your program in its
-current state. Depending on the debugger and the platform, you may be able to
-modify those values, too, to quickly experiment with the problem and attempt
-to solve it.
-
-Once you've looked at the relevant variables, you can resume executing your
-program - generally in one of five ways:
-
-* _Continue_ execution normally. The debugger steps aside until the program
- reaches the next breakpoint, or exits, and your program executes normally.
-
-* Execute the _next_ statement. Execution proceeds for one statement in the
- current function, then stops again. If the statement is, for example, a
- function or method call, the call will be completely evaluated (unless it
- contains breakpoints of its own). (In some debuggers, this is labelled “step
- over,” since it will step “over” a function call.)
-
-* _Step_ forward one operation. Execution proceeds for one statement, then
- stops again. This mode can single-step into function calls, rather than
- letting them complete uninterrupted.
-
-* _Continue to end of function_. The debugger steps aside until the program
- reaches the end of the current function, then halts the program again.
-
-* _Continue to a specific statement_. Some debuggers support this mode as a
- way of stepping over or through “uninteresting” sections of code quickly and
- easily. (You can implement this yourself with “Continue” and normal
- breakpoints, too.)
-
-Whenever the debugger halts your program, you can do any of several things:
-
-* Inspect the value of a variable or field, printing a useful representation
- to the debugger. This is a more flexible version of the basic idea of
- printing debug output as you go: because the program is stopped, you can
- pick and choose which bits of information to look at on the fly, rather than
- having to rerun your code with extra debug output.
-
-* Inspect the result of an expression. The debugger will evaluate an
- expression “as if” it occurred at the point in the program where the
- debugger is halted, including any local variables. In languages with static
- visibility controls like Java, visibility rules are often relaxed in the
- name of ease of use, allowing you to look at the private fields of objects.
- The result of the expression will be made available for inspection, just
- like a variable.
-
-* Modify a variable or field. You can use this to quickly test hypotheses: for
- example, if you know what value a variable “should” have, you can set that
- value directly and observe the behaviour of the program to check that it
- does what you expected before fixing the code that sets the variable in a
- non-debug run.
-
-* In some debuggers, you can run arbitrary code in the context of the halted
- program.
-
-* Abort the program.