The ability to debug an application is arguably what turns an excellent text editor into an interactive development environment. Without debugging, Visual Studio is really just a feature-rich text editor that allows you to compile applications. With debugging, Visual Studio turns into an invaluable development tool. If I were to argue the merits of using an IDE versus using just a normal text editor to develop applications, debugging would be one of the pillars of my argument.
Visual Studio provides a rich debugging experience. You can set breakpoints in your code, step through application execution line by line, and read and set the value of variables while the application is executing.
The hacks in this chapter show you how to get the most out of debugging with Visual Studio. You will learn how to set breakpoints, troubleshoot breakpoints, and halt the execution of your application when exceptions are thrown. You will also learn how to debug scripting languages like JavaScript and VBScript, as well as how to debug T-SQL that's running on an instance of SQL Server.
This chapter will help you learn how to better debug your applications, leading to more productive development and more efficient bug resolution.
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