Coding Best Practices : Error Messages Are Friends, Not Foes.

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This error's name originated from Room 404

At first, I saw error messages as coding villains, ready to ruin my day with red underlines.

As soon as I see one, I panic and do everything humanly possible to get rid of it.

But now, I view error messages as superheroes here to help me debug my code.


The inspiration for this week's post comes from a problem I encountered on the job with code.


The Problem

Errors were introduced into SQL queries that were needed to generate a crucial report due to updates I made. 

However, I didn't know exactly where to start the debugging process, as all the scripts were being executed dynamically. 

Whenever one of these queries failed, the entire process would throw a generic error message that did not specify where the error occurred.

The brute force approach of combing through dozens of scripts to find a handful of syntactical errors would have been stressful and time-consuming.


The Solution

Instead of manually looking for the problem, I wanted the error message to tell me exactly where it was. 

So, I decided to include a TRY and CATCH block in the process that executed all these queries, which printed an error message that returned the query ID that failed. 

This not only saved time, but also made the code more resilient to human error.

Now I see the importance of creating custom error messages, as the default messages thrown by the compiler are often limited and may not provide the necessary context for debugging code.


This may seem like a simple lesson, but here are three tips for error handling:


1) Use meaningful error messages

 Error messages should be clear, concise, and provide relevant information about the error that occurred. Avoid generic or ambiguous error messages that don't provide enough context for troubleshooting.


2) Handle errors as close to the source as possible

Errors should be caught and handled as close to the point of occurrence as possible. This helps in identifying and resolving issues quickly, and prevents errors from propagating further and causing more damage.


3) Test and simulate errors

 Test your code for various error scenarios and simulate errors during testing to ensure that error handling mechanisms are working as expected.


By following these best practices, you can improve the reliability, security, and user-friendliness of your software applications, and make them more resilient to errors and failures.


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