If you are using printf debugging in other contexts, maybe there is better tool for the job Grow the set of tools that you’re using and you’ll be more effective at solving problems. Although often looked down on by users of modern debugging software, printf () debugging continues to prove itself indispensable The wildly popular firebug tool for the firefox web browser (and similar tools now available for other browsers) is built around a console window into which web page scripts can log errors or diagnostic messages. The larger reason for not debugging with printf () is that it is usually inefficient, inadequate, and unnecessary Printf () and kin use a lot of flash and ram relative to what's available on a small microcontroller, but the bigger inefficiency is in the actual debugging.
The art of printf () debugging “the most effective debugging tool is still careful thought, coupled with judiciously placed print statements.” — brian kernighan, “unix for beginners” … The simplest approach to debugging is to add print statements to figure out where your issue is This approach is known as printf() debugging (so called after the c function by the same name) “the most effective debugging tool is careful thought, coupled with judiciously placed print statements.” Using printf () for debugging is a subset of the general problem of logging Logging frameworks provide substantial capabilities and flexibility
A simple debugging technique that involves inserting print statements into the code to output values at certain points during execution printf debugging can be useful for quickly identifying the source of a problem, but it can become cumbersome for complex issues or large codebases.
WATCH
