The rapidly emerging smart Internet of Things (IoT) hardware and devices that make our lives comfortable and secure require faultless and reliable software. But what techniques and tools should programmers and software engineers be cognizant of to help minimize risks of failures in complex computerized systems, for example, those of enterprises such as airlines and banks? Spinellis echoes the historical records of techniques and tools that seasoned programmers have developed and used in the past, to advocate new tools and methods for identifying and fixing knotty faults in software.

Recognizing the slow progress made in software debugging in recent decades, the author compellingly presents reliable techniques and tools for coping with thorny bugs. Indeed, the agile methodology with the aid of DevOps and debugging tools can help programmers in the life cycle revision of processes for continuous software improvement, integration, deployment, and versioning. Clearly, programmers and software engineers need to be aware of web searches for questions and answers, available source codes, debugging libraries, and the variety of tools on the Internet.

So, why should you read this thought-provoking article? Do you have opinions on reverse debugging, or are you resolving issues related to the execution of dead processes in complex and distributed systems? If so, I strongly recommend this insightful article that focuses on modern software debugging techniques and tools. I must confess: I wish I had been educated on the software design ideas advocated in this article years ago.