5 Debugging Secrets That Made Me a 10x Better Developer

Discover 5 powerful debugging techniques that transformed my workflow and helped me squash bugs like a pro.

Aashish Kumar

02 May 2025 — 3 min read

Photo by True Agency on Unsplash

Debugging isn’t a skill — it’s an art.

5 Debugging Secrets That Made Me a 10x Better Developer

I used to think great developers wrote flawless code.

Spoiler alert: they don’t.

The best developers I’ve ever met weren’t the ones who got everything right the first time — they were the ones who could hunt down a bug, dissect it, and squash it before anyone else even finished their coffee.

It took me a few painful years (and many late-night coding sessions) to realize that debugging well is one of the most powerful skills you can build.
Here are five lessons that completely changed the way I approach bugs — and made me a way better developer in the process.

1. Guess Less, Hypothesize More

In the beginning, my debugging strategy was basically:

Add a few random console.log()s or print()s
Squint at the screen
Hope for the best

It worked… sometimes. But more often, I just ended up more confused.

Everything changed when I started treating bugs like mini science experiments. Before touching a line of code, I’d force myself to stop and ask:

“What exactly do I think is happening here — and why?”

That small mindset shift made a huge difference.
No more guessing games. Just a clear theory to test.

If you can’t explain your hypothesis in one sentence, you’re not ready to start poking around.

2. Shrink the Problem Until It’s Bite-Sized

One thing nobody told me early on: the bigger the mess, the harder it is to find the bug.

If you’re trying to debug a giant feature or a whole app at once, you’re basically asking for a bad time.

I learned to isolate issues like a detective isolates clues at a crime scene. Strip away everything that doesn’t matter. Write a tiny test case if you have to. Make the problem so small that it can’t hide.

When in doubt, zoom in until you can explain exactly what’s broken — and nothing else.

3. Logs Are Your Best Friend (Seriously)

I used to hate looking at logs. They felt like trying to read the Matrix.

But after one too many situations where a bug slipped right past me — even though the answer was screaming in the logs — I realized I needed to get over it.

Now, my rule is simple:

Trust the logs.
Read them like you’re reading a mystery novel.
Look for anything weird — timestamps that don’t make sense, unexpected errors, missing pieces.

And don’t be afraid to add more logging in your own code. Good logs tell a story. Bad logs tell you nothing.

4. Talk to a Rubber Duck (Or a Teammate)

The first time I heard about “rubber duck debugging,” I thought it was a joke.

It’s not.

Talking through a bug out loud — even if it’s to an inanimate object — forces your brain to slow down and actually process the problem. Half the time, I spot the issue before I even finish my sentence.

If the duck isn’t cutting it, grab a teammate. Fresh eyes = fresh insights. Plus, explaining things clearly to someone else forces you to understand the bug better yourself.

Debugging isn’t just technical — it’s social too.

5. If You Can’t Reproduce It, You Can’t Fix It

The most dangerous bugs are the ones that happen “sometimes.”

Early in my career, I wasted so much time trying to fix issues I couldn’t even reproduce properly. It felt like chasing ghosts.

Now, I don’t even try to fix something until I can reliably trigger it.
If it’s a timing issue, I slow things down.
If it’s an edge case, I add more detailed logging.

Once the bug is predictable, it’s fixable. Until then, it’s just a phantom.