Why isn’t my code working? When you write code, that is a question you will be asking yourself frequently. To find the problem, you will need to debug your code. Here are a few strategies to help you find the bugs in your code.
Print Statement
When you code isn’t working, try creating a few print statements. A simple message like “Got here!” can tell you if your code is doing what you expect it to. Whether you send the message to your window, page or console.log, simple print statements can help you determine find problems.
Run your code after making a small change
Small changes are easier to find problems than in code that you spent all day writing. When you make a bunch of changes at once, it can be difficult to figure out which one is causing the error. You may be forced to undo everything that you did and put it back one item at a time until you find the error.
Read the error message
Most error messages tell you what the problem is and where to look.
Copy the error message and search online for an answer
Sometimes you get an error message that makes no sense to you. By copying it and entering it into your favorite search engine, you may find the solution. Someone may written about it on Stackoverflow.com or their own blog.
Comment out the code
When you didn’t know exactly where the problem is, comment out your code and rerun. If it works, uncomment a line of code and run it again. Keep repeating until you find the problem.
Read your code
When you can’t find the error, read your code. Forwards. Backwards and out load if you need to. It may be as simple as a typo. If your missing a semicolon or using the wrong character, your code may compile and still not work. Use your eyes to double check your code.
Talk to someone about the problem
Sometimes, explaining the problem to another person can help you figure out the problem. If you can’t find a person to talk to, you can use the a rubber duck or action figure instead.