Debugging Practices

Debugging is a core skill in competitive programming. Writing a correct algorithm is only half the work — you also need to make sure your code actually runs as expected, and be able to correct it if a mistake is found.

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🔑 Key Advices

• Always try the problem on paper first before coding.
• Have a clear idea of your algorithm and used data structures. If possible, write an outline on paper before implementing (avoid blind coding).
• Test on small and extremal cases that you can check manually.
• Be careful with fast I/O and watch out for integer overflow.
• Use cerr instead of cout for debugging (since graders usually ignore cerr).
• A debugger is often more powerful than console output.
• Learn to use assert to verify assumptions in your code.
• Compare your solution with a bruteforce solution on small cases to locate discrepancies.
• Train your debugging skills: don’t immediately read the editorial just because your mistake seems “dumb” — solving it yourself is part of the training.

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📚 Useful Resources

• USACO Guide – How to Debug
• USACO Guide – Basic Debugging
• USACO Guide – Debugging C++
• Debug C++ in Visual Studio Code
• 🎥 VS Code Debugging a Simple C++ Program (YouTube)
• 🎥 Debugging C++ Program in Visual Studio Code (YouTube)
• 🎥 Debugging C/C++ with Visual Studio Code Explained in Less Than 6 Minutes! (YouTube)

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⚡ Debugging is not wasted time — it’s part of solving the problem.

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