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3 2013

6 Stages of Debugging

by Jim McKeeth

My friend came up with the 6 Stages of Debugging: 

  1. That can't happen
  2. That doesn't happen on my machine.
  3. That shouldn't happen.
  4. Why does that happen?
  5. Oh, I see.
  6. How did that ever work?

Update: Looks like this is an old, but still relevant list.

Although you could apply the Kübler-Ross model too:

  1. Denial - It must be user error! Are we sure their system is supported?
  2. Anger - By filing this bug you have questioned my family honour. Prepare to die!
  3. Bargaining - What if we just update the documentation? Can we tell the users this is a feature?
  4. Depression - All my code is broken! I have no idea what I am doing! I'm going to lose my job.
  5. Acceptance - Oh, that was easy to fix.

Do you ever find yourself in these stages?

tags: Funny