Chapter 22: Tracing, Error Handling, Debugging, and Performance

Overview

I often wonder whether the panacea of error-free software will ever happen. Humans aren't error free, so while we are writing software, it is likely we will make at least one mistake. Software companies have teams of people testing their products because developers are fallible. Not only do mistakes happen, but also compatibility between components can cause other errors. One of the error handling specifications for ASP.NET says, 'Errors happen. Deal with it', and one developer I know says, 'Errors suck.' Both are true “ however bad errors are, they do happen, and you have to find ways to track them down and prevent further errors.

This chapter looks at the features ASP.NET provides as help during the development cycle. In particular you will look at:

• Tracing :How to track progress through ASP.NET pages and components

• Debugging :How to find errors, and use the debugger

• Error handling :How to handle errors gracefully, and prevent further ones

• Profiling :How to identify areas of slow performance

These topics were all available in ASP, but they were always hampered by the environment or language. The .NET platform has freed developers from some of the constraints and restrictions that ASP imposed, and the languages have improved other areas. Overall, .NET not only presents a far better way of developing applications but also better facilities for making those applications as robust and error free as possible.