[yogindernath]

Several approaches are being practiced in the industry for debugging software under test (SUT).

Some of them are described below.

1) Brute Force Method: This method is most common and least efficient for isolating the cause of a software error. We apply this method when all else fail. In this method, a printout of all registers and relevant memory locations is obtained and studied. All dumps should be well documented and retained for possible use on subsequent problems.


2) Back Tracking Method: It is a quite popular approach of debugging which is used effectively in case of small applications. The process starts from the site where a particular symptom gets detected, from there on backward tracing is done across the entire source code till we are able to lay our hands on the site being the cause. Unfortunately, as the number of source lines increases, the number of potential backward paths may become unmanageably large.


3) Cause Elimination: The third approach to debugging, cause elimination, is manifested by induction or deduction and introduces the concept of binary partitioning. This approach is also called induction and deduction. Data related to the error occurrence are organized to isolate potential causes. A "cause hypothesis" is devised and the data are used to prove or disprove the hypothesis. Alternatively, a list of all possible causes is developed and tests are conducted to eliminated each. If initial tests indicate that a particular cause hypothesis shows promise, the data are refined in an attempt to isolate the bug.


Tools for Debugging: Each of the above debugging approaches can be supplemented with debugging tools. For debugging we can apply wide variety of debugging tools such as debugging compilers, dynamic debugging aids, automatic test case generators, memory dumps and cross reference maps. The following are the main Debugging tools available in the market.

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[rajeshmadan]

Hello friends,

The brute force method seems a hit & trial method to debug the application judged to have errors. Is there any fool proof tool to ascertain errors.

[arunbhatia]

Hello,

Can we say that Quicktest Professional QTP is a debugging tool also.

Arun