Debugging,...

Dick · Expert Member

For those who have lost posts, as have I, let me suggest you DO NOT hit refresh, and then go to reply, because you will, like as not lose the text, and have to "chew your tobacco twice". I suggest you copy the text into your browser, and then submit, or reply to, etc. I hope this helps,
Dick

carlb · Advanced Member

Lots of stories about problems with posting or answering. Sure glad it's not MY drinking problem again. Laughing

Dick · Expert Member

Carl, it isn't a drinking problem, more like "de-bug", like a "fly-in-the-ointment". A pain, but Chuck will get it. He always does.
Dick

smed · Senior Member

If anybody's interested, the quick and concise story of where the term "debug" came from can be seen here: http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~tgaines/education/students/history/debug.htm.

Anybody who took computer classes in the 70's or 80's probably already knew this.

When I was in college in the early 80's I had a chance to go see ADM Hopper speak and didn't go... one of life's great regrets.

Dick · Expert Member

Before "windows" began, we had DOS, and many times I have had to resort to using "debug" to clean up a mess. Too bad it went away with DOS. I don't remember how to get out, anymore. I guess that dates me, doesn't it?
Dick

smed · Senior Member

Pressing "q" and enter gets you out of MS-DOS debug.

Or, are you referring to the program that came with TRS-DOS, or something else?

carlb · Advanced Member

So far I've haven't lost any post, had any problems with answers so it might be that I am but don't know it. Isn't debug the same as defragging? I know I defrag my system about every other week, run a program called Clean Up and then run Avast. All take time but why not.

smed · Senior Member

Defragging is shorthand for defragmenting. The way computers write files to the drive is pretty strange -- one half of the file can be over here---------------------->

and the next half could be down there
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\/

or it could be broken up into many many more fragments.

Defragging basically rewrites your hard drive so that as many files as possible are in one contiguous space on the drive. It speeds up access by not making the drive continually move around to find each piece of the file.

Debugging is finding and fixing problems in programming and/or job flow. Well, it used to be. Common usage of debug has made it to mean fixing any problem.

Been playing with these doggone boxes since the mid 70's... I think I've literally forgotten more than I remember about them.