• The Thinker's Toolkit: 14 Powerful Techniques for Problem Solving | | | |
• Why Programs Fail, Second Edition: A Guide to Systematic Debugging | | | |
• The Art of Debugging with GDB, DDD, and Eclipse | | | |
• Microcontrollers and Microcomputers Principles of Software and Hardware Engineering | | | |
• LINUX & UNIX Programming Tools: A Primer for Software Developers | | | |

Good tips to hear multiple times
Review written by: JC From Hunstville, AL
I highly recommend this book to engineers involved in debugging systems. It really is a great way to remind us of common sense debug techniques which may sometimes get forgotten. If you are interested in increasing your effectiveness, then this book will enhance your skills and probably career. The time it saved me personally in debugging a recent problem was worth far more than I paid for the book.

Good book
Review written by: Michael L. From
I got it since it was required for my class. It's a nice book to read once, so borrow it from the library.

Great ZOKS! Yeah I tried it, Yeah it works.
Review written by: Brian R. Findlay From Merrimack, NH USA
First this isn't an entirely unbiased review, but I don't shill for anyone. I happened to have worked with and for the author, and have purchased the book and read though a good piece of it. I no longer work with him or for that company and haven't talked to Dave in about 3 years. So you know my former connection as a colleague with no present connection. Now onto the book.

The 9 rules, yes, I remember them now.. truth is in a couple of times when I was beating my head against a wall I have looked at them and reviewed them and yes.. following them helps. First, I would put the rules as timeless and not necessarily cast just to electronics or software.. they are a basic good sense template for just about anything from fixing your car to taking an old clock apart. In the fog that comes with getting deep into a problem, a point of reference is really, really useful, and if you follow the guidelines it will keep you out of alot of trouble and possible fix what you are working on.

If you are an engineer who spends a reasonable quantity of your time troubleshooting your code/hardware or work on alot of bugs I would think you are a rare individual who wouldn't benefit from this knowledge.

Principle Focused: Concisely Expressed, Broadly Applicable
Review written by: D. Sanoy From
Troubleshooting and debugging is one of those life activities that we tap into relentlessly - yet never learn about in a structured manner. "Debugging" by David Agans sheds some light on the general principles that produce reliable results no matter what you have under your microscope.

Most books on debugging or troubleshooting are geared toward a specific technology platform. Tools, samples and scenarios tend to be limited to a specific topical area. This concise little book deals with principles and disciplines that apply to all debugging and troubleshooting, regardless of the target technology. The book is filled with examples (called War Stories) that demonstrate the application of the principles. Some of these examples are technical in nature while others deal with household problems. I found this mix of examples to be effective because I could focus on the application of a debugging principle rather than being distracted by trying to figure out the bug in the example.

Results Don't Come From Unapplied Methods

Many reviews of the book note that some recommendations were familiar and others were "self-evident". Yet from my own experience, debugging and troubleshooting practices are rarely applied in a disciplined manner. So while you may sense that a given principle is somewhat self-evident because past use of it has produced great results - it is still very valuable to hear it from someone who can give structure to this knowledge domain because it:

*) reinforces your intuitions
*) fleshes out concepts you may be only vaguely familiar with
*) encourages you to apply them consistently - not just when you happen to think of it
*) lends credibility when making a case to utilize a given principle
*) allows you to spot processes that inconsistently or incompletely apply these principles
*) helps you understand interrelationships between the various principles

The results generated by masters of this art come from applying these principles consistently and completely - not just in the fits and starts caused by relying on intuition.

Rules Versus Disciplines

The book refers to the "9 Rules of Debugging" - but I have come to think of them as disciplines. I tend to think of rules as applying in a given order for a desired result and I think of them as eventually being memorized and applied without effort - like a memorized recipe.

In contrast, the principles in "Debugging" must be applied iteratively, simultaneously and re-invoked at various stages of the debugging process depending on conditions. Additionally, even when you know them, there is still a temptation to skip a principle if it requires a lot of detailed work.

The following two attributes cause me to think of the 9 rules as disciplines:

they should characterize the entire approach to debugging and troubleshooting and
even when you are aware of an applicable principle, many times you have to force yourself to do it.
On Target

This book is especially applicable to the target audiences of CSI-Windows.com training as it does not assume specific technologies, tools or a given role. It also applies equally to debugging and troubleshooting and it does not assume comprehensive knowledge of the system that is under analysis. Our course CSI-300 Foundations of Application Internals incorporates the disciplines from the excellent book.

Debugging The 9 Indispensable Rules...
Review written by: Jesse R. Ziegler From
-==Pro's==-
-Clear writing style, with a touch of good humor.

-Solid rules that are easy to remember, apply, and follow.

-Great chapter layout, with clear summary at the end of each chapter.

-==Con's==-
-Occasionally I found myself "not getting" the metaphors right away. This was usually cleared up by the chapters summary.

-Despite the good writing style and humor, the book didn't seem very engaging. I found it difficult to read from cover to cover (although I did).

-==summary==-
I like this book, its on my special shelf. The shelf where all my favorites go. I like the writing style the author uses. He has humor, but its not far out, or unrelated or silly. The rules are clear, and make sense. Sure some of them seem "no duh", but once you put them into words you can understand them on a whole new level. That is exactly what this book did for me, it took all the basic rules of debugging and put them into something I can read/look at. It takes all the little things I've been doing (and some I have not!) and put a name to them. The only real problem I had with this book was that it was not very engaging. For some reason it felt difficult to read on. I think that the reason for this could be partial lack of interest in this subject. The author makes it fun to read about something I'm not highly interested in, perhaps I should have listed that as a pro!