#006 - Decreasing Debugging, Increasing Productivity

The Embedded Frontier

In this episode, Jacob Beningo discusses the importance of debugging in embedded development and shares several techniques to decrease debugging time. He highlights the statistic that development teams spend 20-40% of their time debugging, which equates to 2.5-4.5 man-months of development. Beningo emphasizes the use of test-driven development (TDD) as a way to prevent bugs and decrease debugging time. He also recommends mastering debugging techniques for microcontrollers, using profiling and monitoring tools, employing assertions, and utilizing on-host simulation. Beningo concludes by encouraging listeners to track their debugging time and implement strategies to decrease it.
Takeaways

• Development teams spend 20-40% of their time debugging, which can equate to 2.5-4.5 man months of development.
• Test-driven development (TDD) can help prevent bugs and decrease debugging time.
• Mastering debugging techniques for microcontrollers and utilizing profiling and monitoring tools can improve debugging efficiency.
• Using assertions and on-host simulation are additional techniques to decrease debugging time.
• Tracking debugging time and implementing strategies to decrease it can lead to increased productivity and innovation.

Chapters

1. Introduction (00:00:00)

2. The Importance of Debugging (00:01:25)

3. Mastering Debugging Techniques for Microcontrollers (00:08:11)

4. Profiling and Monitoring Tools (00:13:01)

5. On-Host Simulation (00:20:15)

6. Conclusion (00:26:28)