Top 12 Debugging Tools in 2024

Debugging is one of the difficult processes in software development but if debugging is not done in a proper way then bugs can destroy the efficiency of code. Therefore there are multiple debugging tools available in the software development world that can ease the process of debugging by the features present in these tools.

Thus in this article, detailed knowledge has been provided about the top 12 debugging tools that are used by software developers to debug the code and make the code free from all the bugs that can destroy the efficiency of the software that is made from that code.

What is Debugging?

Debugging is one of the complex processes which involves identifying, analyzing, and solving the bugs which are present in the code. Debugging is important for any software to maintain its efficiency and its performance. It is important because it not only improves the quality of the software but also provides an opportunity to get insights about the libraries and the languages in which the code is written. Therefore a correct debugging tool will ease the process of debugging.

Top 12 Debugging Tools for 2024

There are various different debugging tools available in the market depending upon the type of development environment and the languages or the IDE which is being used. Hence there are some of the top 12 debugging tools are mentioned below with their features:

1. Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a type of IDE that is used by software developers for multiple uses. Visual Studio code consists of built-in debugging functionalities that support the developers in developing PHP, Node.js, C#, and many other different languages. Developers can also set breakpoints and use the watches to watch the values that are contained in the variables.

Key Features:

• Visual Studio code has a feature of syntax highlighting, code completion, and code refactoring.
• Visual Studio code also consists of code completion tools and many useful extensions.
• With the help of Visual Studio code debugging becomes easier.

2. Airbrake

Airbrake is one of the most used debugging tools in the form of cloud-based error and bug reporting solution which mainly suits small and big-size businesses. Airbrake is a type of developer-centric tool that integrates with the apps. It also helps businesses to maintain the performance and versatility of their software projects.

Key Features:

• Airbrake helps in error tracking, error grouping, and real-time notifications.
• It integrates with multiple development tools such as GitHub, Slack, Jira, GitLab and so on.
• Airbrake also provides real time notification and also provides detailed error reports.

3. ReSharper

ReSharper is one of the popular debugging tools serving as an extension of Visual studio code. The teams and the .NET developers aim to simplify the code for the development process by promoting best coding practices and providing high quality software applications.

Key Features:

• ReSharper provides real time code suggestions and analysis.
• It also supports multiple programming languages such as .NET languages, VB.NET, ASP.NET and so on.
• ReSharper seamlessly integrates with the unit testing frameworks, execution, analysis and creation.

4. Angular Augury

Angular Augury is a free tool which is used by many Angular developers . Angular Augury consists of an intuitive user interface which further offers some powerful features which enhances the debugging, profiling and optimization of the angular projects. With the help of this tool developers get valuable insights about the software applications.

Key Features:

• Angular Augury visually represents the app’s routing information and makes the routing debugging easily accessible.
• The tool conveniently lists the properties and the dependencies of the components by simplifying the process of debugging.

5. IBM Rational Software

IBM Rational Software Analyzer is a type of analysis tool which allows the software developers to review the code and identify the bugs and errors in the code which improves the quality of the code during the process of software development. The IBM Rational Software tool is developed on an extensible framework.

Key Features:

• IBM Rational Software helps to detect the defects in the code before the delivery of the software products.
• This IBM Rational Software tool integrates with the external tools which enhances the compatibility and capabilities.

6. Chrome DevTools

Chrome DevTools includes the features of robust web authoring, allows the users to perform different tasks such as testing the mobile viewport display and assess the performance of the whole website and the particular components. Chrome DevTools offers a robust JavaScript code editor with the debugging capabilities which includes the variable examination and breakpoints.

Key Features:

• Chrome DevTools easily inspect and manipulate HTML and CSS in real time.
• The chrome devtools provides detailed insights into the network requests, timing, headers which are important for optimising the web performance.
• It also provides a remote debugging feature which includes the mobile, USB or network connections.

7. Fiddler

Fiddler is a straightforward troubleshooting and debugging solution where the software developers facilitate the debugging of the web apps by capturing and analysing the network traffic between the internet and the testing environment which allows the users to monitor the requests and responses.

Key Features:

• Fiddler captures the network traffic also by facilitating in depth analysis of the data flow of web apps.
• During the debugging process Fiddler tool also ensures the security and privacy of the sensitive information.

8. Rookout

Rookout allows the software developers to solve the issues of the customers and makes debugging easy and accessible in any environment. Rookout also captures the live debugging data across the tech stack and it is also useful for debugging in the production environment by minimising the disruption and downtime.

Key Features:

• Rookout integrates with the cloud-native environments which ensures the debugging capabilities across the infrastructure of modern development.
• Rookout allows debugging without needing to code changes and redeployment.
• It can also capture the live debugging data across the entire technology stack.

9. Bugfender

Bugfender is a remote logging tool which is designed to pinpoint the bugs in the software. With the help of the bugfender developers can access the real time logs from the user’s web and mobile applications.

Key Features:

• Bugfender allows the software developers to view and track the bugs in their apps.
• This tool also lets the software developers collect the important information about the issues and help them to fix these issues.

10. WebStorm

WebStorm is one of the best debugging tools which is used by the JavaScript developers which offers an intelligent coding assistance platform. WebStorm extends the support to the website platforms encompassing the prominent frameworks like React.js, Angular.js and Vue.js.

Key Features:

• WebStorm includes the built-in tools for the critical task such as testing, debugging and application tracing.
• WebStorm integrates with the popular command line tools which speeds up the development processes.

11. Lightrun

Lightrun is a real time debugging tool which is used by the developers to analyse the variables, collect useful data with the running apps. Lightrun provides immediate feedback to the developers on their code and allows them to identify and address the issues.

Key Features:

• Lightrun helps the developers to debug the code in real time by eliminating the need to compile and slow down the process of debugging.
• Lightrun also supports multiple environments which makes it versatile and suitable for debugging for various setups.

12. GDB

GDB is an open source debugger and a part of a GNU project which supports multiple programming languages like C and C++. It also empowers the software developers with the command-line interface for executing the different debugging tasks. With the help of the GDB users can monitor the internal program variables.

Key Features:

• GDB offers a command line interface which allows the software developers to execute the multiple debugging tasks efficiently.
• GDB main features includes the remote debugging capabilities, allows the software developers to to debug the program which are running on the remote systems.

Conclusion

Debugging tools are mainly used to debug the code, check the performance of the code and if there are any issues or bugs in the code then developers can resolve those bugs in the code. Therefore choosing the correct debugging tool for the code is necessary for the developers to maintain efficiency in their codes. In this article some of the popular debugging tools in 2024 are mentioned with their features.

Must Check:

• Top 10 Tools You Must Use for Debugging React Native Applications
• User Space Debugging Tools in Linux
• Top tools for debugging AJAX applications

FAQs on Debugging Tools

Q1. What do you mean by Debugging ?

Debugging is defined as a process of identifying and fixing the bugs and errors of the code to improve the efficiency of the code. There are a total of four steps of debugging- comprehend the systems, test the systems, identify the errors and fix those errors.

Q2. Why are Debugging tools used in Software Development ?

Debugging tools are used for debugging the software as these tools help to fix the problems faster and also improves the productivity of the software developers. Therefore these tools help in maintaining the quality and user experience.

Q3. Name the Top Debugging tools which are used by Software Developers ?

Some of the top 5 Debugging tools which are used by the software developers are- Visual Studio Code, Android Studio, IntelliJ IDEA, ReSharper, PyCharm Debugger, Chrome DevTools and X code.