Hour 16. Debugging Your Code

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Hour 16. Debugging Your Code

No one writes perfect code. You're most certainly familiar with those problems that prevent code from executing properly ”they're called bugs. Being new to C#, your code will probably contain a fair number of bugs. As you gain proficiency, the number of bugs in your code will decrease, but they will never disappear entirely. Debugging is a skill and an art. This book can't teach you how to debug every possible build or runtime error you may encounter; however, in this hour you will learn the basic skills necessary to trace and correct most bugs in your code.

The highlights of this hour include the following:

• Adding comments to your code

• Identifying the two basic types of errors

• Working with break points

• Using the Command window

• Using the Output window

• Creating a structured error handler

The Task List window is useful for addressing build errors in code. However, because its use goes beyond this simple debugging application, I discuss the Task List in Hour 11, "Creating and Calling Methods."

Before proceeding, create a new Windows Application project named Debugging Example. Change the name of the default form to fclsDebuggingExample, set its Text property to Debugging Example, and change the Main() entry point of the project to reference fclsDebuggingExample instead of Form1.

Add a new text box to the form by double-clicking the TextBox item in the toolbox. Set the text box's properties as follows :

Property	Value
Name	txtInput
Location	88,112
Size	120,20
Text	( make blank )

Next, add a new button to the form by double-clicking the Button item in the toolbox, and then set its properties as follows:

Property	Value
Name	btnPerformDivision
Location	96,144
Size	104,23
Text	Perform Division

Your form should now look like the one shown in Figure 16.1.

Figure 16.1. This simple interface will help teach you debugging techniques.

All this little project will do is divide 100 by whatever is entered into the text box. As you write the code to accomplish this, various bugs will be introduced (on purpose), and you'll learn to correct them. Save your project now by clicking the Save All button on the toolbar.

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