JavaScript debugging Was: [Javascript] Getting object property names as a string

[mwarden at gmail.com (Matt Warden)]

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Scott Reynen wrote:
> On May 24, 2006, at 7:33 PM, Matt Warden wrote:
> 
>> "Beware: the above will likely cause you to force-quit your browser if
>> test is a DOM node.  After making that mistake three or four times, I
>> learned to write to the DOM instead of alerts when I'm debugging  
>> objects."
>>
>> And, to that, I say:
>>
>> Firebug is your friend:
>>
>> http://www.joehewitt.com/software/firebug/faq.php
> 
> 
> Most of my debugging involves getting JavaScript to work reliably or 
> degrade gracefully across all browsers.  Any browser-specific  debugging
> solution isn't going to help me much here, as the FireBug  FAQ is quick
> to say:
> 
> "Second, we implement a version of FireBug that displays logging  inside
> of the web page, like certain other Javascript logging  frameworks. This
> is the kind of thing I created FireBug to avoid, but  it's better than
> nothing when you're testing with another browser.  You do 99% of your
> development in Firefox anyway, right? :)"

It is not a browser-specific debugging solution. It is a JavaScript
debugger that runs within a specific browser. I'm not sure what kind of
JavaScript you're writing where near full-featured debugging in Firefox
would not "help [you] much". I have been working the last six months on
a fat client web application, and with each release of Firebug, I wonder
how I got along without the new features in the past. Outputting values
to alert() or to a log div just doesn't cut it when one starts building
very complex fat clients.

I would suggest you give it a shot. It will save you a *lot* of time,
especially with the features added in the latest release. Debugging
fully in Firefox+Firebug will get you 95% of the way, and you need only
verify and tweak in other browsers.

> I do 99% of my development in multiple browsers to approximate the
> diverse conditions my target audience.  Isn't that standard practice
> by now?

Funny you should say the word "standard." If you stick to standard
operations, with very few minor workarounds for browser differences
(e.g., XMLHTTP instantiation, event attachment, etc.), which are
'standard' nowadays anyway, you really shouldn't have to change a whole
lot to get things cross-browser.

And if not, Firebug would at least help you during the 30% or so time
you spend with your development in Firefox.

- --
Matt Warden
Oxford, OH, USA
http://mattwarden.com


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