Software Architect's Handbook

Logging

Logging is an important part of software applications, allowing you to know what your code did when it was executed. It provides you with the ability to see when things execute as expected and, perhaps more importantly, assists you in diagnosing problems when they do not. The availability of logs can really help you to troubleshoot application issues.

Common characteristics of log entries include the following:

• Date/time: It is imperative to know when the event took place
• Source: We want to know the source/location of the event
• Log Level/Severity: It is helpful to know the level/severity of the log entry
• Message: Log entries should have some sort of description or detail explaining the log entry