Hacker News with Generative AI: Debugging

TIL: timeout in Bash scripts (heitorpb.github.io)
The other day at work we had a Bash script that would set up a web server and wait for it to be up before proceeding to the next things. The script worked fine and we had no issues, until we had an infinite loop.
Bash, Scripting, Web Development, Programming, Debugging
357 points by lr0 32 days ago | 97 comments
Visualize and debug Rust programs with a new lens (sea-ql.org)
Visualize and debug Rust programs with a new lens
Rust, Debugging, Visualization, Programming Tools
214 points by alex_hirner 33 days ago | 37 comments
Use ramoops for logging under Linux (2021) (embear.ch)
Unfortunately, an embedded system is not free of crashes. To analyze and log such crashes it is useful to have a file system where we can store such information between reboots. One interface which is meant to do that is pstore and its current single implementation ramoops. Ramoops can store log messages inside a reserved memory area in RAM. The nice thing about RAM is, that it should almost always be available when the CPU is still running.
Linux, Debugging, Embedded Systems, Memory Management
17 points by zdw 34 days ago | 2 comments
Practicing graphical debugging using visualizations of the Hilbert curve (akkartik.name)
For a while now I've been advocating for a particular style of programming: Use tools that don't change too often. Use tools that don't keep historical accidents around indefinitely. Minimize moving parts. Avoid additional third-party libraries, and forswear native libraries entirely.
Debugging, Visualization, Software Development, Programming Languages
34 points by akkartik 36 days ago | 1 comments
Disabling kernel functions in your process (2009) (chadaustin.me)
Detecting and reporting unhandled exceptions with SetUnhandledExceptionFilter seemed logical, and, in fact, it worked... for a while. Eventually, we started to notice failures that should have been reported as a last-chance exception but weren't. After much investigation, we discovered that both Direct3D and Flash were installing their own unhandled exception filters! Worse, they were fighting over it, installing their handlers several times per second!
Programming, Windows, Debugging, Security, Software Development
47 points by rolph 38 days ago | 16 comments
Emulator Debugging: Area 5150's Lake Effect (blogspot.com)
My last few articles on bus sniffing the IBM 5150 have been building up to this one. We're going to leverage our bus sniffer and sniffer decoder to finally debug Area5150's "Lake" effect.
Debugging, Emulators, IBM 5150
69 points by rbanffy 39 days ago | 9 comments
Poireau: A Sampling Allocation Debugger (github.com/backtrace-labs)
Poireau: a sampling allocation debugger
Debugging, Software, Tools
13 points by luu 40 days ago | 2 comments
Backtrace is finally cheap by abusing x86/Linux's shadow stack (intmainreturn0.com)
Backtrace is a very helpful debugging tool in native programming by giving out the source location at each call level. Unfortunately, getting a backtrace is expensive.
Debugging, Programming, Linux, Optimization, x86
16 points by htfy96 40 days ago | 0 comments
Setenv() isn't threadsafe and even safe Rust didn't save us (geldata.com)
We're in the process of porting a significant portion of the network I/O code in EdgeDB from Python to Rust, and we've been learning a lot of very interesting lessons in the process.
Rust, Programming Languages, Networking, Software Development, Debugging
4 points by fanf2 42 days ago | 1 comments
Using TLA+ in the Real World to Understand a Glibc Bug (2020) (probablydance.com)
TLA+ is a formal specification language that you can use to verify programs. It’s different from other formal verification systems in that it’s very pragmatic. Instead of writing proofs, it works using the simple method of running all possible executions of a program. You can write assertions and if they’re not true for any possible execution, it tells you the shortest path through your program that breaks your assertion.
Formal Verification, Programming Languages, Debugging, Software Development
14 points by Tomte 42 days ago | 0 comments
Use Method: Linux Performance Checklist (brendangregg.com)
The USE Method provides a strategy for performing a complete check of system health, identifying common bottlenecks and errors. For each system resource, metrics for utilization, saturation and errors are identified and checked. Any issues discovered are then investigated using further strategies.
Linux, Performance Optimization, System Administration, Debugging, Troubleshooting
7 points by Tomte 44 days ago | 0 comments
Show HN: I made a platform to debug Puppeteer (JS) crashes visually (buglesstack.com)
JavaScript, Debugging, Puppeteer, Web Development, Tools
24 points by ivanalemunioz 45 days ago | 2 comments
A Taxonomy of Bugs (ruby0x1.github.io)
Debugging is often an undervalued skill. It’s not really taught in schools (as far as I know), instead, you kind of have to pick it up as you go along. Today, I’ll try to remedy that by looking at some common bugs and what to do about them.
Debugging, Software Development, Programming
52 points by lissine 45 days ago | 24 comments
Self-hostable webhook tester in go (testwebhook.xyz)
Webhook Tester is a lightweight platform that lets developers create temporary webhook endpoints to inspect and debug HTTP requests in real-time.
Go, Webhooks, Debugging, Development Tools
76 points by muliswilliam 45 days ago | 15 comments
The Audio Stack Is a Crime Scene (mataroa.blog)
You plug in headphones. Nothing. You unplug them again. Still nothing. The speakers are muted. The system says they aren’t. You check volumes. You restart Pulse. You restart PipeWire. You restart your whole damn session. And still—no sound.
Audio, Debugging, Linux
83 points by todsacerdoti 46 days ago | 18 comments
"just" is a four letter word (neverjust.net)
Picture yourself wrestling with a complex problem - maybe it's an elusive bug in a legacy codebase, or a fragile system architecture held together by workarounds and technical debt. You've invested countless hours diving deep into the problem, meticulously mapping out dependencies and edge cases. Your mind is swimming with implementation details when someone casually drops in to say:
Software Development, Debugging, Technical Debt
9 points by markflorkowski 50 days ago | 3 comments
Leak and Seek a Go Runtime Mystery (cyolo.io)
"We think we have a problem." That's how the conversation with the customer success team started: A polite heads-up about a potential memory leak by the platform team. Little did we know, we were about to embark on a debugging adventure worthy of any great detective novel. Within hours, three of our largest customers were reporting significant performance issues. Clearly, this wasn't just "a problem." It was a full-blown crisis.
Debugging, Go, Performance, Software
10 points by gavra 50 days ago | 0 comments
Using tests as a debugging tool for logic errors (qodo.ai)
In Java development, logic errors constitute a unique class of defects where code executes flawlessly according to its written instructions while systematically violating business requirements.
Java, Debugging, Testing, Logic Errors
38 points by simplesort 51 days ago | 15 comments
Nnd – a TUI debugger alternative to GDB, LLDB (github.com/al13n321)
A debugger for Linux. Partially inspired by RemedyBG.
Debugging, Linux, Command-line Interface, Software, Tools
278 points by zX41ZdbW 52 days ago | 83 comments
An Interactive Debugger for Rust Trait Errors (cs.brown.edu)
Human developers frequently make simple mistakes. Thankfully, type systems do a great job of statically catching simple mistakes and saving developers time. However, as type errors become more complex, developers may spend significant time trying to understand the error message itself.
Rust, Debugging, Programming Languages, Software Development
57 points by matt_d 52 days ago | 10 comments
Finding a Bug in Chromium (bou.ke)
This week I’ve submitted a report for a bug I found in Chromium, the first time I’ve done so. I wanted to show how I found the bug and to spread … to hopefully speed up the resolution of it.
Software, Debugging, Chromium, Open Source
65 points by bouk 53 days ago | 12 comments
AI Meets WinDBG (svnscha.de)
Let's face it - while the rest of software development has evolved at warp speed, crash dump analysis feels like it's been preserved in digital amber for decades.
Debugging, Artificial Intelligence, Software Development
290 points by thunderbong 53 days ago | 60 comments
Switch bouncing reference traces for a variety of different switches (github.com/gsuberland)
This repository contains a collection of example traces showing switch bouncing behaviour. This may be useful if you want some quick reference data for implementing robust debouncing systems in your circuits and firmware.
Electronics, Hardware, Firmware, Debugging, Circuit Design
51 points by luu 54 days ago | 23 comments
Be Productively Pessimistic (dontbreakprod.com)
The earlier you can catch problems, the better. So why not try to catch them before they even happen.
Software Development, Debugging, Prevention
5 points by dorkrawk 58 days ago | 0 comments
Recognizing Patterns in Memory (2022) (timdbg.com)
Something I find frustrating is how hard it is to teach debugging skills. I think the biggest reason is because there are many things that can only be learned through experience. This is true for anything that requires pattern recognition.
Debugging, Pattern Recognition, Software Development, Learning
10 points by misonic 59 days ago | 1 comments
Show HN: Raindrop – Sentry for AI Products (raindrop.ai)
Raindrop sends you alerts when your AI misbehaves and links straight to the events, so you can dig into the conversations or traces, understand the root cause, and fix it—fast.
AI, Monitoring, Debugging, Software, Tools
11 points by alexisgauba 60 days ago | 2 comments
Show HN: Web-eval-agent – Let the coding agent debug itself (github.com/Operative-Sh)
Let the coding agent debug itself, you've got better things to do.
Debugging, Programming, Software, AI, Web Development
84 points by neversettles 60 days ago | 12 comments
Differential Coverage for Debugging (swtch.com)
I have been debugging some code I did not write and was reminded of this technique.
Debugging, Software Development, Programming
72 points by todsacerdoti 63 days ago | 10 comments
Show HN: BugStalker - a modern Rust debugger (github.com/godzie44)
Rust, Debugging, Software, Open Source
115 points by godzie 63 days ago | 17 comments
Writing a Linux Debugger (2017) (tartanllama.xyz)
Linux, Debugging, Programming, Software Development
20 points by ibobev 63 days ago | 2 comments