Debugging Java: Troubleshooting for Programmers

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ISBN: 9780072125627 | 0072125624
Cover: Paperback
Copyright: 6/1/2000

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Troubleshooting reference for the Java programmer. Author's computer science teaching experience led him to discover the importance of debugging. His research showed that people who learn debugging skills first, master computer languages markedly faster. Stands alone and can be paired with other Debugging titles covering C++, ASP, and other technologies. Filled with solutions to common and rare bugs. Proactive focus helps developers identify bad coding habits and adopt strategies to build clean code.

Acknowledgments

xiii

Introduction

Part I Begin with Bugproof Code

You'll Never Catch'em All!

(12)

The Proof

(5)

Worksheet

(1)

Neither Debugging nor Testing Finds All Bugs

(3)

It Gets Worse

(1)

Code Must Shun Bugs from the Start

(5)

Prevent Java Bugs from Hatching

(18)

Development Philosophy

(7)

Left Brain ⟺ Right Brain

(2)

How to Become More Creative

(3)

How to Be More Organized

(1)

Programmers Build; Testers Break

(1)

Documents First

(4)

User Manual First

(1)

Getting a Firm Signoff

(1)

User Manual Becomes Programming Specifications

(1)

Learn to Love Javadoc

(2)

Risky Elements Before Safe Ones

(4)

Handle Surprises Early, Not Late

(2)

Avoid Deadline Pressure

(2)

Setting Java Bug Traps

(24)

Instrument Your Code

(19)

Code Instruments

(3)

Java Exceptions, Detailed

(2)

Exceptions Advance the State of the Art

(7)

Coding to Handle Exceptions

(2)

Nesting the try Block

(1)

throw

(1)

The throws Keyword

(3)

Bugs Hiding Phantom Bugs

(1)

Practice Generating Bugs

(1)

Autolog the Results

(3)

Never Miss Another Deadline! Risk-Factor Analysis

(8)

Use Risk-Factor Analysis (RFA)

(3)

Why Is RFA Important to Debugging Java?

(3)

Write to Shun Bugs

(54)

Common Word Processors

(15)

Using Microsoft Word

(13)

Use the Best Java Editor You Can

(1)

Editing Tricks

(9)

Make Typos Identify Themselves

(1)

Extend Your Copy/Paste Buffer

(2)

Teach AutoCorrect to Cut Errors and Save Typing

(3)

Train Your Spell Checker

(1)

Write in the First-Last-Middle Sequence

(1)

The QQQ Bookmark

(1)

Holey 3 x 5 Card Trix

(4)

Use a Known Subset of Java

(1)

Comment First, Code Later

(1)

Memorize the Differences Between Languages

(11)

Java and C/C++

100

(5)

Major Differences Between Java and Visual Basic (VB)

105

(5)

Integrated Development Environments (IDEs)

110

(6)

JBuilder

110

(3)

JDK Commander

113

(1)

Majo

113

(1)

VisualCafe

113

(3)

Classes of Bugs

116

(3)

Part II Removing Java Bugs

Classes of Bugs

119

(46)

Design Bugs

120

(3)

Conditions Come in Powers of Two

120

(3)

Syntax Bugs

123

(16)

Code Generators

123

(4)

The Future of Code Generators

127

(2)

Lint-like Checkers

129

(10)

Logic Bugs

139

(6)

Actual Errors in Logic

140

(5)

Solve All Mysteries

145

(1)

Mathematical Bugs

146

(11)

Math Near the Limits

147

(2)

Booleans

149

(3)

Unusual Operators: Shifts

152

(5)

Unusual Bugs

157

(2)

Side-Effect Bugs

159

(1)

Optimizer-Caused Bugs

159

(2)

Pseudo Bugs

161

(4)

Mental Disciplines

165

(14)

How to Think Consistently

166

(8)

Use Inviolate Personal Conventions

166

(8)

Don't Mix Depth-First Searches and Breadth-First Searches

174

(1)

When to Debug

175

(1)

Your Environment

176

(3)

The Awesome Power of Debuggers

179

(44)

Java Debugger (JDB) is Free

181

(3)

Installing

181

(1)

Overview

181

(1)

Command Reference

182

(2)

Third-Party Debuggers

184

(39)

Assure

185

(8)

JBuilder

193

(9)

JProbe

202

(7)

Visual Cafe

209

(14)

Debugging Stratagems

223

(14)

Assemble the Best Resources

224

(1)

Bug Isolation

225

(11)

Start Changing Things

226

(1)

The Shotgun Approach

227

(1)

Debugging via Reasoning

227

(3)

Binary Bug Searches

230

(4)

Testing

234

(2)

Ask Questions When You're Stuck

236

(1)

Testing

237

(36)

Localize and Squash Bugs

238

(15)

Instrument Your Code

238

(1)

Conditional Compiling

239

(1)

Where the Bugs Are

240

(8)

Black-Box Testing

248

(1)

White-Box Testing

249

(2)

All Logic Testing

251

(2)

Build Better Fly Swatters

253

(16)

Macro Recorder

253

(1)

Best Practices Analyzer

253

(2)

Static Coverage Analyzer

255

(1)

Dynamic Coverage Analyzer

255

(1)

Bug Tracker

255

(2)

Test Data Assistant

257

(1)

When to Stop Testing

258

(7)

Sowing Error Seeds

265

(1)

You Need a Second Computer

266

(3)

Commercial Software Tools for Java

269

(4)

The Threaded Environment

273

(28)

Ancient Parallel Algorithms Revisited

276

(2)

Parallel Computing Bugs

278

(9)

Daemon and User Threads

278

(1)

Java's Inherent Protection

279

(1)

Loop Parallelization

279

(1)

Handling Input and Output

280

(2)

Asynchronous Tasks

282

(1)

Timers

283

(1)

Time-Sensitive Thread Bugs

284

(3)

Preventing Thread Clashes

287

(11)

Spin Locks to the Rescue!

289

(2)

Locks Using Monitors and Semaphores

291

(3)

More on Monitors and Semaphores

294

(1)

Some of the Best Thread Practices

295

(2)

Performance Issues

297

(1)

Thread Safety

298

(1)

Prevention

298

(3)

The One That Got Away

301

(30)

How Users Perceive Bugs

302

(6)

Make Your Client Love You

305

(3)

Bugs Confuse, by Definition

308

(1)

What Else Can Go Wrong?

309

(1)

Elements of the Perfect Error Message

309

(6)

Speak the User's Language

309

(1)

Eschew Concision

309

(1)

Choose Words Carefully

310

(1)

Be Sure to Spell a Word Wrong

310

(1)

Contriteness Never Hurts

311

(1)

Total Disclosure is Best

311

(1)

Your User Is in a State of Near Panic

311

(1)

Error Messages Must Soothe

312

(1)

Avoid Anything Condescending

312

(1)

Standardize Phrasing

313

(1)

The Button Captions

314

(1)

Formatting an Error Message

315

(1)

Contents of the Error Message

316

(12)

What Happened?

316

(1)

Why Did It Happen?

317

(1)

What Will Happen Next?

317

(1)

What Can the User Do About It Right Now?

317

(1)

What Can the User Do About it in the Future?

318

(1)

Where Can the User Get Help Right Now?

319

(1)

How Can the User Help the Developer Improve the Situation?

319

(1)

What Similar Problems Have Occurred in the User's Software Recently?

320

(3)

What Should the User Tell a Technician About the Problem?

323

(1)

What Restitution Does the Software Developer Offer to the User?

324

(1)

What Was the Computer's State When the Problem Occured?

325

(1)

Is the Bug in the Client or in the Server?

325

(1)

What Databases, Tables, and Fields Are Open?

325

(1)

What Program, What Module, What Method, and What Line Triggered the Error?

325

(1)

What Threads Are Active at the Time?

326

(1)

With as Much Precision as the Computer Supports, When Did the Problem Occur?

327

(1)

Who Is the Logged-On User?

327

(1)

What to Display on the Screen or Report

327

(1)

Guarantee Your Software to Specifications, Forever!

328

(3)

Part III Performance

Use the Best Testing Strategy

331

(32)

Incremental vs. Module Testing

332

(1)

Incremental Testing's Advantages

332

(1)

Module Testing's Advantages

333

(1)

Integration Testing

333

(1)

Top-Down vs. Bottom-Up Testing

333

(4)

Top-Down Testing

334

(1)

Why the Flowchart is Flawed

335

(1)

Bottom-Up Testing

336

(1)

A Compromise

337

(1)

Testing Philosophy

337

(1)

Testing a Flowchart's White Space

337

(2)

Automated Testers

339

(20)

Automated Black-Box Testing

344

(1)

Automated White-Box Testing

345

(2)

Automatic Regression Testing

347

(1)

Automatic Static Analysis

347

(8)

Automatic Coverage Analysis

355

(3)

False Expectations and Myths

358

(1)

Cost of Bug Removal

359

(1)

Other Kinds of Tests

360

(1)

How Many Bugs Remain?

361

(2)

Appendix A Commercial Software

363

(34)

Add-In Libraries

364

(1)

Artificial Intelligence

364

(1)

Browsers & Browser Tools

365

(1)

Code Generators

365

(2)

Collaborators

367

(1)

Compilers and Interpreters

367

(1)

Data & Web Data

367

(4)

Debuggers

371

(1)

Documents

372

(1)

eCommerce

373

(1)

Editors

374

(1)

Graphics Development

374

(2)

Help Authoring

376

(1)

IDEs and Development Tools

376

(3)

Installers & Deployment

379

(1)

Internationalization

380

(1)

Internet

380

(1)

Java Beans & Enterprise Java Beans (EJB)

381

(2)

Java Virtual Machines

383

(1)

JAR Self Extractor

384

(1)

Mapper

384

(1)

Messagers

384

(1)

Modeling, UML, and CASE Tools

385

(3)

Obfuscators & Optimizers

388

(1)

Object Request Brokers (ORBs)

389

(1)

Profilers

389

(1)

Report Makers

390

(1)

Security

391

(1)

Servers & Servlets

391

(2)

Software Development Kit (SDK)

393

(1)

Spreadsheet

393

(1)

Testing Tools and Suites

394

(1)

Trackers, Project Managers

394

(1)

Voice Recognition

395

(1)

Word Processor in Java

395

(1)

XML

395

(2)

Appendix B Java Resources

397

(8)

Books

398

(1)

Magazines

398

(1)

E-Zines

399

(1)

Newsgroups

400

(1)

Web Sites

400

(1)

Training

401

(4)

Appendix C Twenty-One Laws of Computer Programming

405

(6)

1. Fatal aborts are never allowed

406

(1)

2. Write in this order: User manual, specifications, help, source code

406

(1)

3. Unless you use Risk Factor Analysis (RFA), a program takes twice as long to develop as you think it will---recursively

406

(1)

4. Coding should comprise no more than 20 percent of development effort

406

(1)

5. Testing should comprise at least 30 percent of the project

407

(1)

6. Comments should comprise at least 20 percent of the source

407

(1)

7. An error message must tell what happened, what the user can do about it, what the program will do next, and what line of code caused the problem. It may also note the time, username, and environment

407

(1)

8. Good programs automatically send recent error messages to permanent media

407

(1)

9. Call a routine thrice? Hide it. Call it once? Don't hide it

408

(1)

10. Routines need exactly one entry and one exit. Exceptions include menus and error traps

408

(1)

11. Document code with clear names for variables and routines

408

(1)

12. Databases should be relational

408

(1)

13. Always use the best algorithm

408

(1)

14. Optimize the slowest routines first. Use a profiler to identify them

409

(1)

15. The best language is usually the one with the shortest development time

409

(1)

16. Require customer sign-offs

409

(1)

17. Program the more risky modules first

409

(1)

18. Make easy maintenance your guiding light

409

(1)

19. Sign and spell check everything you write

410

(1)

20. Don't write any program you can replicate with a 3 x 5 card deck!

410

(1)

21 .Know when anything is done

410

(1)

22. No list is ever complete

410

(1)

23. The difficulty is not where you are looking

410

(1)

24. Rules and laws exist so people don't have to think

410

(1)

Appendix D Java Glossary

411

(10)

Appendix E Word Macros

421

(22)

Bookmark and GoTo

422

(1)

Hiding Text

423

(2)

Personal Comments

425

(1)

Green Keywords

426

(13)

Programming Helps

439

(2)

More Macros

441

(2)

Index

443

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Debugging Java: Troubleshooting for Programmers

Summary

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials