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Why Programs Fail, 2nd Edition
book

Why Programs Fail, 2nd Edition

by Andreas Zeller
July 2009
Intermediate to advanced
544 pages
11h 24m
English
Morgan Kaufmann
Content preview from Why Programs Fail, 2nd Edition

CHAPTER 4 Reproducing Problems

The first step in debugging is to reproduce the problem in question—that is, to create a test case that causes the program to fail in the specified way. The first reason is to bring it under control, such that it can be observed. The second reason is to verify the success of the fix. This chapter discusses typical strategies for reproducing the operating environment, the history, and the problem symptoms.

4.1 THE FIRST TASK IN DEBUGGING

Once a problem report is in the problem database, or once a test has failed, the problem will eventually be processed by some programmer in order to fix it. The programmer’s first task (or, more precisely, the first task of any debugging activity) is to reproduce the problem

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9780123745156