The Debugging Habit That Cut My Bug-Fix Time in Half

Every developer has that moment. You stare at a bug for 45 minutes. Then you add a single print statement — and suddenly the answer is obvious.

I tracked my debugging time for two weeks. The pattern was brutal: 70% of my debugging time was spent reproducing and understanding the bug. Only 30% was actually fixing it.

Here is the one habit that flipped that ratio.

The Habit: Reproduce First, Debug Second

Before you change anything, do this:

1. Write down EXACTLY what you expect to happen 2. Write down EXACTLY what is happening instead 3. Create a minimal reproduction (script, test case, or curl command) 4. Run it to confirm — if you cannot reproduce it, you cannot fix it

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That is it. The rule is: no fix code until step 4 is complete.

Why This Works

Most developers (myself included) start debugging in fix mode. You see a problem, you have a hypothesis, and your fingers are already typing.…