In the TDD frenzy and hype these days, it seems that many developers have forgotten the importance of building good debugging skills. In fact, I know one fellow architect (whom I won't mention by name) who brags about not having used a debugger in years. He claims that his code is so well tested that he doesn't need a debugger. Funny how, when I found a bug in his code recently, I isolated and fixed it using a good, old-fashioned debugger.

Don't get me wrong. I think TDD is great. But there's no substitute for stepping through your code and watching it work. It slows the process down to do it but that's true of TDD in general. I am thinking about hosting a debugging workshop in the Richmond area soon. If you're interested, drop a note to kevin at gotnet dot biz and let me know.