Index

D

data, gathering when debugging remote customer sites, 148-149

data storage object, role in debugging cell phone example, 51

data stores, determining problems with, 53-54

date and time, obtaining, 94

deadlock threading bugs

debugging, 189-196

overview of, 176-177

recognizing, 180

debug asserts, 72-73. See also customized asserts

advisory about removal of, 67, 75-76

advisory about usage with legal cases, 75-76

aggressive use of, 71-72

benefits of, 63, 66

compiling to nothingness in Release mode, 70

customizing for use with ASP.NET pages and Web services, 77

customizing with TraceListeners, 80-85

versus error handling and logging, 62, 65

failure of, 62

finding points of failure with, 63-64

guidelines for use of, 76-85

launching debugger with, 61-62

overview of, 59-62

preparing for future with, 74

role of message boxes in, 60-61

using in services, 78-79

using with ASP.NET pages and Web services, 77, 79

using with remote objects, 80

using with Windows services, 76-77

Debug class, System.Diagnostics.Trace class used with, 68

Debug mode

displaying message boxes in, 61

using with debug asserts, 64

debugger

attaching, 115, 118-119

attaching to running processes in ASP.NET, 118

choosing for use with debug asserts, 83-84

detaching, 120

detaching from processes, 8

example of, 6

freezing threads in, 183-186

launching with debug asserts, 61-62

results of installation of, 25

stepping over code in, 29-34

using for tracing purposes, 29

using with ASP.NET, 114-121

viewing threads in, 170-171

debugging. See also brute-force debugging; cross-machine debugging; remote debugging

choosing starting point for, 53-54

deductive reasoning applied to, 56

difficulties associates with remote customer sites, 141-145

ensuring for products at customer sites, 28

establishing theories for, 37

finding point of failure for, 46

managing goals and subgoals of, 17

.NET contribution to, 4-8

practicing with different forms of, 28

role of intuition in, 37-38

setting goals for, 36

simplifying strategies for, 17-18

with SourceSafe, 233-248

states of, 36

testing guidelines for, 37

debugging advice

bug fixes as means to end of making programs work, 15-18

bug investigation, 12-14

managing inconsistent functionality, 18-21

using test computers without debugging tools, 24-28

debugging skills, improving, 3-4

defect tracking software

collaborating with tech support by means of, 220-221

collaborating with testers by means of, 217-220

communicating with teammates by means of, 216-221

getting maximum benefits from, 213

guidelines for creation of, 205

learning from past mistakes with, 212

maximizing use of PRs with, 215

overview of, 200-205

providing estimates of project status with, 213

searching and reporting in, 209-216

developers

allowing collaboration using SourceSafe, 227

guidelines for working with customer bugs, 154

using defect tracking software to collaborate with, 216-217

development workflow. See workflows

diagnostic utilities, overview of, 147-150

diffing files with SourceSafe

before checking in, 241-242

example of, 230

diffs, using with SourceSafe, 233

digital certificates, analyzing Server Variables ASP.NET traces of, 129

directories, structuring with SourceSafe, 226

DLL functions

result of loading at runtime in Windows, 20-21

verifying installation when logging, 155-156

DONT_RESOLVE_DLL_REFERENCES flag, purpose of, 23

DoUselessStuff function, fixing with lock statement, 174