Designing precise error messages is worthwhile
Sometimes debugging lasts forever, sometimes it is spot on.
Sometimes, a solution found by debugging leads to another problem.
Most of the times, precise error messages can dramatically shorten problem solving.
All in all, it is worthwhile spending some time to design good diagnostic messages.
Here is an example of a typical problem, where the error message has
For some weeks now, I've been debugging and learning software technology in order to get this web app to run without problems. I've worked my way through Maven, Struts and now Tiles. Deploying the app to the JBoss web app server, give a warning:
WARN [TagLibraryInfoImpl] Unknown element (deferred-value) in attribute
As usual, I google the error message, adding the technology name and some other keyword thought to be relevant:
Tiles WARN [TagLibraryInfoImpl] Unknown element (deferred-value) in attribute isELIgnored
Usually this give me many threads, but this one gave me just 4, and skimming the second search hit give me something to try; remove jstl from webapp. I try it, and it works! But.. who would have guessed this was a solution?!
There is no point in remembering this exact error message and the corresponding solution. Let this be an example of why we need better error messages, so we can enable all users to do better diagnostic work, and not fumble in the dark for hours on end.
Sometimes, a solution found by debugging leads to another problem.
Most of the times, precise error messages can dramatically shorten problem solving.
All in all, it is worthwhile spending some time to design good diagnostic messages.
Here is an example of a typical problem, where the error message has
For some weeks now, I've been debugging and learning software technology in order to get this web app to run without problems. I've worked my way through Maven, Struts and now Tiles. Deploying the app to the JBoss web app server, give a warning:
WARN [TagLibraryInfoImpl] Unknown element (deferred-value) in attribute
As usual, I google the error message, adding the technology name and some other keyword thought to be relevant:
Tiles WARN [TagLibraryInfoImpl] Unknown element (deferred-value) in attribute isELIgnored
Usually this give me many threads, but this one gave me just 4, and skimming the second search hit give me something to try; remove jstl from webapp. I try it, and it works! But.. who would have guessed this was a solution?!
There is no point in remembering this exact error message and the corresponding solution. Let this be an example of why we need better error messages, so we can enable all users to do better diagnostic work, and not fumble in the dark for hours on end.