Automated Debugging: SQL, C++, Perl, SAS, Java, C#, Python

Do you know any company developing automated debugging software or environments?

Too often, we (programmers) spend too much time correcting very basic mistakes. An example is forgetting a semicolon at the end of a line (Perl), or having one extra comma in a SQL select statement as in

select
LastName,
FirstName,
City,
--zipcode
from users;

In this example, the extra comma appeared by accident when the zipcode field was commented out. Now the SQL code (previously correct) is buggy.

It would be very easy to write a program that automatically correct these basic errors, these errors waste as much as 10% of the time to any experienced programmers, and much more for novice coders.

For instance, applied to Perl, one feature (among hundreds of features) of the automated debugger would be:

Check first occurrences of lines that do not end with a a semicolon
When such a line of code is found, check the code until the next semicolon is found
If the code in question can not be successfully compiled, then try adding a semicolon to the first line that did not have one
After adding the semicolon in question, if the code can now be compiled, the error was just a missing semicolon, and the error has been automatically fixed (this will solve 99% of the missing semicolons)

I'm wondering if such automated debuggers exist. If not, I believe VC's should invest in this technology. It could save billions of dollars to the corporate world.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Steffen Springer on November 8, 2009 at 5:54am: I do not agree.

Of course, such small errors happen and yes, they are annoying. The question is: Can be ensured (regarding your example) that if the code compiles after the semicolon was added, that the semantics is exactly as the coder planned it ? Debugging with tracing and breakpoints is much more time consuming than correcting a compiler error.

I am afraid we will reach a new level of "try-and-error-coding".; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Joseph Foutz on November 11, 2009 at 1:18pm: I think a completely automated tool would probably be too dangerous to actually use - too great a chance that the correction would change the meaning of something. (SQL especially.)

For finding errors, check out Micro Focus DevPartner Studio (formerly CompuWare DevPartner Studio).

Personally, I just prefer a good code highlighting system. Anyone who has ever been stuck in parentheses or quotations hell for an extended period of time can attest to the value of good code highlighting...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Ralph Winters on November 11, 2009 at 5:57pm: Many times a particular IDE (Integrated Development Environment) will provide syntax checking and debugging. For example Komodo, and Eclipse (for Java environments) both contain debuggers, and SAS has a built in debugger which can help you trace code. For SQL checking it is a little trickier, since there are so many variants of SQL, MS Sql has a built in checker within Management Studio, and DB/2 SQL has one as well. I have also used TOAD for Oracle, which checks syntax, and I believe TOAD is platform independent and is freeware.

-Ralph Winters; ▶ Reply to This