printf debugging is OK

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2025-01-06 03:00:03

I stopped going on Twitter a while ago because it has the tendency to evoke rage, as it is designed to do. But every now and then I check back in - it can be useful sometimes for keeping up with graphics research, gamedev news and some people do post nice things, like sharing projects they are working on, so there is something to pull me back from time to time.

After checking the other day I saw this debate going around about not using an IDE or debugger, just using ‘notepad’ to write code. I looked in the comments, people arguing about who was right and all the usual toxic vibes, and it reminded me of some earlier occasions of people discussing the same topic.

It feels like the same old debate has been going on for a long time now, it’s packaged differently each time, but I don’t really know why people get so wound up about things. The main arguments are “if you need to use a debugger you’re an idiot and you don’t understand the code you are writing” (that’s not an actual quote but there was a similar take along those lines). Then there is “If you can’t use a debugger you’re an idiot”. The hating on the ‘printf’ crew is omnipresent.

At the risk of poking a hornet’s nest, I just wanted to share some thoughts and ideas on this subject in a balanced way, because I don’t think there needs to be an ultimate solution here. We need to debug code and there are tools out there to help us, some are more useful than others in certain situations, but at the end of the day do whatever you need to do to fix those bugs.