Get Better at Debugging by Making Predictions

Shift to a proactive mindset by making predictions before any experiments in a debugging session. ...

September 23, 2025 · 3 min · Jake Worth

Raise the "I'm Stuck" Flag

Consider this scenario. You’ve been given some work, and you’re stuck. Hours have become days. You’ve exhausted the internet. You’re starting to backtrack, delete work, and start over. Feeling defeated. To make matters worse, you haven’t told anybody. ...

September 10, 2025 · 3 min · Jake Worth

Debugging Is a Story

Today I want to talk about a way I think about debugging: as a story that we tell to ourselves and each other. ...

September 9, 2025 · 4 min · Jake Worth

"Don't Stay Stuck" Digital Guide Launch

I’m proud to announce the launch of my digital guide to software debugging, Don’t Stay Stuck: A Debugging Guide for Rising Engineers! ...

August 12, 2025 · 1 min · Jake Worth

Banishing "Random" for Better Software Communication

“I’m still getting this random 404.” Want to sound pro? Banish “random” from your software engineering vocabulary. ...

June 17, 2025 · 2 min · Jake Worth

Don't Guess

This is a response to “Don’t Guess” from the excellent “The Best Programmers I Know” by Matthias Endler. My goal is to crystallize my understanding of this trait. ...

April 29, 2025 · 4 min · Jake Worth

Your Software Is Confusing

If something in your software is confusing to a customer, it is confusing. ...

April 7, 2025 · 3 min · Jake Worth

"I Don't Understand" Debugging

My definition of “I don’t understand” debugging. ...

February 13, 2025 · 3 min · Jake Worth

Find Every Debugging Trail Marker

If you’ve ever watched me debug, you might think I’m moving slowly. That’s because I try hard to find every marker on the debugging trail. I believe this is one of the most valuable skills in debugging. ...

June 17, 2024 · 5 min · Jake Worth

Thinking of Bugs in Classes

We spent the time writing tests, and yet, a bug survived. Should we just stop writing tests? No, but we should maybe write better tests, and think about them differently. ...

September 3, 2023 · 3 min · Jake Worth