Debugging Setup

Problem

Developers waste hours adding console.log statements, refreshing browsers, and manually recreating bug conditions. Without proper debugging tools and breakpoints configured, tracking down issues becomes a tedious guessing game of print statements and trial-and-error.

Solution

Configure source maps, breakpoints, and developer tools to inspect running code and trace execution. This makes debugging feel like working with original code rather than wrestling with transpiled or minified output.

Example

This example demonstrates a VS Code launch configuration with source maps enabled for debugging transpiled code in the browser.

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    // Generate source maps to map transpiled code back to original source
    "sourceMap": true
  },
  // VS Code debugger configuration
  "version": "0.2.0",
  "configurations": [{
    "type": "chrome",                        // Use Chrome debugger
    "request": "launch",                      // Launch a new browser instance
    "url": "http://localhost:3000",          // URL to debug
    "webRoot": "${workspaceFolder}/src"      // Root directory for source files
  }]
}

Benefits

• Enables setting breakpoints and stepping through original source code.
• Saves hours compared to debugging with console.log statements.
• Provides immediate feedback when inspecting variables and state.
• Source maps make transpiled code readable during debugging.
• Integrates with IDEs for seamless debugging workflow.

Tradeoffs

• Requires initial setup time to configure debuggers and source maps.
• Source maps increase build output size if deployed to production.
• Can slow down build times when generating source maps.
• Learning curve for developers unfamiliar with debugger tools.
• May expose source code if source maps are publicly accessible.