independently of source code. Bitmap resources can be set up to load different
kinds of bitmap depending on platform (see the section on resource files).
-\section{Strategies for debugging}
+\section{Strategies for debugging}\label{debugstrategies}
\subsection{Positive thinking}
to the problem. In some cases though, such as memory leaks or wrong
deallocation, this can still give totally spurious results!
-\subsection{Genetic mutation}
-
-If we had sophisticated genetic algorithm tools that could be applied
-to programming, we could use them. Until then, a common -- if rather irrational --
-technique is to just make arbitrary changes to the code until something
-different happens. You may have an intuition why a change will make a difference;
-otherwise, just try altering the order of code, comment lines out, anything
-to get over an impasse. Obviously, this is usually a last resort.
-
\subsection{Use a debugger}
This sounds like facetious advice, but it's surprising how often people
don't use a debugger. Often it's an overhead to install or learn how to
use a debugger, but it really is essential for anything but the most
-trivial programs. Some platforms don't allow for debugging, such
-as WIN32s under Windows 3.x. In this case, you might be advised to
-debug under 16-bit Windows and when you're confident, compile for
-WIN32s. In fact WIN32s can be very strict about bad memory handling,
-so testing out under WIN32s is a good thing to do even if you're
-not going to distribute this version. (Unless you've got a good memory checking,
-utility, of course!) Tracking bugs under WIN32s can involve a lot of debug message
-insertion and relinking, so make sure your compiler has a fast linker
-(e.g. Watcom, Symantec).
-
-\subsection{Use tracing code}
-
-You can use wxDebugMsg statements (or the wxDebugStreamBuf class) to
-output to a debugging window such as DBWIN under Windows, or standard
-error under X. If compiling in DEBUG mode, you can use TRACE statements
-that will be compiled out of the final build of your application.
+trivial programs.
+
+\subsection{Use logging functions}
+
+There is a variety of logging functions that you can use in your program:
+see \helpref{Logging functions}{logfunctions}.
Using tracing statements may be more convenient than using the debugger
in some circumstances (such as when your debugger doesn't support a lot
of debugging code, or you wish to print a bunch of variables).
-\subsection{Use wxObject::Dump and the wxDebugContext class}
+\subsection{Use the wxWindows debugging facilities}
+
+You can use wxDebugContext to check for
+memory leaks and corrupt memory: in fact in debugging mode, wxWindows will
+automatically check for memory leaks at the end of the program if wxWindows is suitably
+configured. Depending on the operating system and compiler, more or less
+specific information about the problem will be logged.
-It's good practice to implement the Dump member function for all
-classes derived from wxObject. You can then make use of wxDebugContext
-to dump out information on all objects in the program, if DEBUG is
-defined to be more than zero. You can use wxDebugContext to check for
-memory leaks and corrupt memory. See the debugging topic in the
-reference manual for more information.
+You should also use \helpref{debug macros}{debugmacros} as part of a `defensive programming' strategy,
+scattering wxASSERTs liberally to test for problems in your code as early as possible. Forward thinking
+will save a surprising amount of time in the long run.
+
+See the \helpref{debugging overview}{debuggingoverview} for further information.
\subsection{Check Windows debug messages}
applications. wxWindows is designed to minimize the possibility of such
errors, but they can still happen occasionally, slipping through unnoticed
because they are not severe enough to cause a crash.
+
+\subsection{Genetic mutation}
+
+If we had sophisticated genetic algorithm tools that could be applied
+to programming, we could use them. Until then, a common -- if rather irrational --
+technique is to just make arbitrary changes to the code until something
+different happens. You may have an intuition why a change will make a difference;
+otherwise, just try altering the order of code, comment lines out, anything
+to get over an impasse. Obviously, this is usually a last resort.
+
+
projects / wxWidgets.git / blobdiff