Debugging close to home…Milestone…
December 14, 2006
I find chapter seven’s dialog on debugging interesting. At first glance my cynical view is to say “duh I know to do that” but as I continued to read I realized that this discussion is quite similar to the one I often have with my mother, especially if one of my younger nephews or nieces are going to be visiting and they want to watch a movie (thankfully now their older siblings do it for them, an my mother is off the hook) but there have been numerous times on a Friday night when I would be primping myself to go out that I would receive a phone call on how to get the VCR running…god forbid the DVD player…and I would end up screaming over the phone “put in it in an push play”…while she would continue to say what, when and where!
Moreover I have shown my mother how to turn the computer on and how to get to the internet numerous times…but she still wont do it…she even participated in a local class put on by the high school to teach people about the internet… and again she will not look up her own stocks or retrieve any information…instead she will leave me or one of my brothers or one of their secretaries a note to do it for her…she is my mother and I am more than willing to do so…but sometimes I get frustrated…however after reading the debugging piece here I will realize to be more understanding and maybe next time follow a step by step procedure…
Here is a quick recap of debugging strategies mentioned within the chapter
- Make sure that you can reproduce the error
- Determine exactly what the problem is
- Eliminate the obvious causes
- Divide the process
- When a dead end is reached, reassess your information
- Work through start to finish!
Interestingly enough… I was not part of any service learning and thorough our classroom discussions I really see a need for it…recognizing that the older (or handicapped) generation needs us to take a few hours of our “busy” schedules to lend a hand…
So Doc, please add me to your email list and keep me posted on possible settings in which I can volunteer my services…
