Debugging Techniques

Debugging is efficient if it detects all program errors in a short time. This paper discusses several techniques for improving debugging efficiency. Attention is given both to the initial debugging and to acceptance testing in the maintenance stage. A main decision is whether to use top-down or bottom-up debugging, and it is suggested that top-down debugging is more efficient if Combined with some of the other techniques. All the techniques shown are independent of any particular language or debug software.