Senior Engineers Share Timeless Debugging Wisdom From Kernighan, Fowler, Torvalds

·2 views

A collection of classic debugging quotes from Brian Kernighan, Martin Fowler, and Linus Torvalds remains relevant for modern software engineers. These principles address code clarity, debugging practices, and system complexity. The advice includes prioritizing debuggable code over clever but opaque solutions and using print statements effectively. The quotes are regularly cited by senior developers during code reviews to guide juniors.

Read the full story at DEV Community

This is an AI-generated summary. ShortSingh links to the original source for the complete article.

Discussion (0)

Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI: 2026 Terminal AI Coding Agents Compared

A 2026 review compared three AI coding agents for terminal use: Claude Code from Anthropic, Codex CLI from OpenAI, and Gemini CLI from Google. The agents were tested over two weeks on 50 coding tasks within a TypeScript project. Claude Code was rated most capable for complex, multi-file work, while Codex CLI was fastest for quick tasks. Gemini CLI, offering a generous free tier, was noted as the best budget option.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community

ProgrammingDEV Community ·

GitLab CI expert cautions against overusing retry rules based on limited evidence

A software development expert warns against expanding CI/CD retry policies based on a single successful run after a failure. The article argues that a later pass does not prove a problem was transient and could waste shared runner resources and reviewer trust. It advises analyzing failed job logs to categorize failures into specific buckets like transient platform issues or script defects before modifying retry rules. The author provides a sample heuristic script to help classify failures but emphasizes it should not be automated without verification. The piece stresses consulting the official GitLab documentation for accurate retry keyword syntax and limits.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community

ProgrammingDEV Community ·

Study finds llms.txt files largely ignored by web crawlers and AI bots.

A study of 137,000 domains using llms.txt found 97% of the files received zero requests. Among the few that saw traffic, bots designed to read such files accounted for only about one percent. Google has publicly stated it does not use the llms.txt convention. The file is a suggested standard with negligible current utility, and experts advise against paying for its implementation.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community

ProgrammingDEV Community ·

Developer advocates for period-by-period simulation in compound interest calculators

A developer has created a compound interest calculator that simulates growth period by period rather than relying solely on a final formula. The tool generates yearly breakdowns to show how contributions and interest accumulation interact over time. This approach aims to increase transparency by allowing users to inspect annual principal and balance data. The calculator acknowledges limitations, excluding factors like taxes, inflation, and variable returns. The developer argues this method makes assumptions more visible than traditional authoritative-looking financial tools.

0 comments Read more at DEV Community