Debugging HInts

Dr. Furse's Debugging Hints:

Debugging is a way of life in engineering.  You design an awesome circuit, simulate it to see how it works, and then build it.  And of course you expect it to work!  Ah well, that was certainly a naive expectation!  I often get frustrated when what I am working on isn't working, but the truth is ... engineers don't work on things that are working.  When it is working (yay!), you send it off to the Marketing Department, and work on the next thing that (you guessed it) isn't working!

So, get used to it, learn to love it, and develop a systematic method for debugging your circuits and software, just like you might for Minesweeper, Battleship, or any other game of strategy.

Hint #1: Follow the Voltage.  (Like 'Follow the Money Links to an external site.' in Watergate)

Write down what all of the voltages in the circuit should be.  Calculate or simulate them.  Then measure them.  If a connection is incorrect, or a component is wrong, this will mess up the voltages in the circuit.  Do this in a systematic fashion so you don't miss any of them.  Perhaps follow the same steps as you would if you were doing KVL or KCL analysis to resolve the unknowns in the circuit.

History of Debugging:  There are lots of urban legends about the word 'de-bug'.  Some say a moth Links to an external site. was found between electric terminals, others credit Grace Hopper Links to an external site. with coining the phrase.  The truth seems to be that the word was already in regular use before the turn of the century.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debug Links to an external site.