Debugging Demystified: My Journey as a Software Developer

When building websites or apps, dealing with errors is part of the job. Whether you're working with HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, mistakes can happen.

It can be frustrating when your code doesn’t work the way you expect, but over time, I’ve found ways to solve these problems and keep things moving.

In this article, I’ll share some common errors I’ve encountered and how I’ve learned to handle them without stressing too much.

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We’ve all been there: you add some new code to your project, and suddenly, nothing works. The page doesn’t look right, buttons don’t respond, or a form won’t submit.

Sometimes it’s a simple issue like missing a closing tag in HTML, forgetting a semicolon in CSS, or writing JavaScript that just doesn’t run properly.

Here are a few examples of issues I’ve run into:

- ???????? ????????????: Forgetting to close a tag or mixing up the structure.

- ?????? ????????????????: Forgetting a semicolon and messing up the whole stylesheet.

- ???????????????????? ????????: Accidentally trying to use a variable that isn’t defined or getting the logic wrong in a function.

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1. ???????? ?????????? ???????????????? ??????????????????

One of the first things I’ve learned is to pay attention to error messages, especially with JavaScript. If something breaks, the browser’s console will give you a message.

At first, these messages looked like gibberish to me, but once I started reading them carefully, I realized they usually point me to exactly where the problem is.

For example, this message:

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This usually means I’m trying to use something that doesn’t exist. Maybe I forgot to reference the right element in the HTML or misspelled an ID. Once I figured out how to trace the error back to my code, fixing it got much easier.

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When I can’t figure out what’s wrong, I take a step back and test smaller parts of the code. If the entire layout is messed up, I start by removing bits of CSS or JavaScript to see which part is causing the issue.

It’s like a process of elimination. This also works with JavaScript functions—if a button click isn’t working, I’ll log messages to the console to see if the function is even being called. This helps me narrow down where the issue is.

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CSS issues can be sneaky. One small mistake, and the layout goes crazy. I’ve had times where I couldn’t figure out why something wasn’t centered or why colors didn’t apply.

The ?????????????? ?????????????? tool in the browser helped a lot. By right-clicking on an element and selecting “??????????????,” I could see exactly how the browser was reading the CSS. Sometimes, I’d notice a style was being overridden or wasn’t applied because the CSS wasn’t specific enough.

4. Look It Up and Learn

When I get really stuck, I turn to Google. Instead of just searching "form not working," I try to be specific, like “JavaScript form validation issue” or even paste the exact error message. This usually leads me to helpful posts from forums like Stack Overflow, where other developers have faced similar problems.

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Over time, I’ve become more confident in my problem-solving skills. Instead of getting frustrated when things break, I now see errors as part of the process. My steps usually look like this:

1. ?????????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????????: See what the browser is trying to tell me.

2. ?????????? ???????? ?????? ????????: Test smaller parts to find the issue.

3. ?????? ?????? ?????????? ??????????: Inspect Element for CSS and console.log() for JavaScript.

4. ???????????? ??????????: Look up specific problems and learn from the community.

Fixing bugs is now something I actually enjoy because each one is an opportunity to learn and get better.

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Errors are just part of web development.

Whether you’re working with HTML, CSS, or JavaScript, things won’t always go smoothly, but that’s okay. By staying patient, using the tools available, and knowing where to look for help, solving these problems becomes second nature.

The more you deal with errors, the better you’ll get at troubleshooting, and soon enough, they won’t seem so intimidating.

I’m ???????????? ?????????????? ??????????, a Cohort 2 participant at 3MTT in software development.

I love building functional, responsive web applications and continuously seek new ways to enhance my coding and problem-solving skills.

#My3MTT #3MTTWeeklyReflection

@3mttNigeria @IHSTowers @NITDANigeria.