[Javascript] Debugger

[liorean]

Hassan Schroeder wrote:
> Dave Stoltz wrote:
>> Ok, lets pretend that some people HATE Netscape, and don't even have it on
>> their machine....Now what should I use for Javascript debugging? 
> Bummer. Then AFAIK you're stuck with the Microsoft Script Debugger
> that you apparently already have.
> Better than nothing, at least, which is what you get with Opera :-)

Netscape has always been nicer to the developer than ie when it comes to 
scripting. It has reported the line number correctly, had more informing 
error messages, and has had a debugger in two generations. Netscape's 
successor, Mozilla, provides you with excellent script development 
tools. You have the JavaScript console, the DOM Inspector, Venkman (the 
JavaScript debugger), the ability to toggle strict warnings (will notify 
you of potential problems wiht your code, and is - of course - stricter) 
  and a lot of extensions that allow your work to be done in far shorter 
time. Microsoft has the Windows Script Debugger; of course, but that 
only captures some kinds of errors, not all errors. The ie error reports 
are often incorrect in line number, and are less informative over all. 
Besides, the JScript engine allows far less insight into it's workings 
than the other engines. (With the possible exception of KJS, but that at 
least has a full from-the-source-code documentation, in the same way 
Mozilla has.) Opera was dead silent about errors until op7, when a 
JavaScript Consome appeard in it as well, and one that rivals the 
Mozilla JavaScript Console in how informative it is at times. This 
console is reachable from the menu, Window:Special:JavaScript Console.

Overall, I think you should use Mozilla as your primary debugging 
platform because of it's clear superiority on this point. Opera is 
helpfull, but when Mozilla doesn't give you the answer, op7 isn't likely 
to help either. The Windows Script Debugger is useful for ie proprietary 
code, but not for much else.


The best way to debug, though, is and always will be variable lookup by 
alerts inserted in the source code, and knowing what JavaScript 
constructs are supported to what level in what browsers.



Then there is JavaScript Lint, of course. 
<http://www.crockford.com/javascript/jslint.html>


And if you need any documentation or references, 
<http://www.codingforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=17254>


HTH,
-- 
liorean <mailto:liorean at user.bip.net>

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