JavaScript is one of the most popular programming languages in the world and the web can’t be complete without this language. But due to its loosely typed nature and various other factors, like all the other languages, JavaScript is also prone to errors and bugs. Sometimes, it can be tricky to find and fix the issues, and can take a lot of time.
However, by using debugging tools, developers can save a lot of time and effort that goes into debugging the JavaScript code. This article will discuss what JavaScript debugging is, what a JavaScript debugging tool is, its types, and the 10 best JavaScript debugging tools that developers can use in 2024.
What is JavaScript Debugging?
JavaScript debugging is the process of finding and fixing different types of errors and bugs present in the JavaScript code. Some bugs are easier to find and fix, whereas others are not.
This process usually consists of the following steps
- Identify the bug or error by reading the error messages
- Identify the portion of code that is causing the error
- Find the cause of the error
- Fix the issue by writing the JavaScript code
What is a JavaScript Debugging Tool?
A JavaScript debugging tool helps to debug the JavaScript code by providing amazing features that save a lot of time for the developers. A popular example of a JavaScript debugging tool is Chrome developer tools, which allows a JavaScript developer to debug the code through a console while inspecting and analyzing each element by reading the HTML code.
There are multiple types of JavaScript debugging tools available, such as:
Developers can choose the optimum tool based on the use cases and ease of use.
Top 10 Best JavaScript Debugging Tools to Use in 2024
With a plethora of JavaScript debugging tools present on the internet, it is quite a difficult task to choose the best tool, but below are the 10 most optimal debugging tools for JavaScript that developers can use.
1. Browser Developer Tools
Tools like Firefox developer tools, Chrome developer tools, and Edge developer tools are the best examples of developer tools present in modern web browsers. These tools are very helpful for developers, as they do not need to download any other tool. They can use the browser’s built-in tool to debug the JavaScript code.
With the help of this, they can simply output debugging messages to the web browser and can pop up a message using the “alert()” function, write “console.log()” statements to log any value on the console, apply a breakpoint such as “JavaScript debugger” to pause the execution at any given line of code.
2. ESLint
With more than 24,000 stars on GitHub, ESLint is an open-source linter for JavaScript code, with the help of which developers can identify and fix different issues in the code. It is available in most of the code text editors, such as VS Code, in the form of an extension. Whenever there is a potential issue with the code, ESLint will highlight the specific line and inform the developer about the particular issue.
ESLint can catch common issues, like syntax errors quickly like Styling issues, Runtime bugs and Not following best practices. ESLint is highly configurable by the developer and contains more than a hundred built-in rules. Developers can create custom rules or use rules created by other developers by using plugins.
3. Zipy
Zipy is a JavaScript debugger for error monitoring and tracking. It shares insights on tracking errors that can help resolve issues in JavaScript, and hence, boost performance. Developers can monitor code in the front end, network requests, and any API failures or latency issues. It also provides a stack trace to help find the error quickly.
Zipy offers error session recordings that can capture DOM events, console logs, and various network calls. These recordings can reveal the reasons for the errors pretty quickly. Zipy can keep track of the user environment so that it can replicate the bugs and provide the best user experience. Developers can also write custom messages, exceptions, and errors to provide personalized debugging and error monitoring.
4. JS Bin
JS Bin is an open-source site that allows code sharing between multiple developers. Not just the HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, but the output is also shared between developers and other team members. JavaScript developers can use it to write JavaScript code and view the output in real time, making it easier to find potential bugs.
JS Bin includes a built-in console as well as support for various linters. Since it is a sharing site, multiple developers can debug the same code at the same time to fix the issues. The code can even be exported to GitHub to maintain the different versions.
5. Airbrake
Airbrake is a lightweight and developer-centric JavaScript debugging and error monitoring tool that automates the process of identifying and fixing bugs in JavaScript code. This tool can be used from testing to production and includes real-time alerts for errors.
This tool shares user insights, logs stack traces for errors and prioritizes fixes, so developers can monitor errors with this tool effectively. Airbrake also provides performance monitoring, where it shares data on user experience and performance metrics such as response times for requests and error rates. This can help developers work on enhancing the overall performance of the JavaScript application.
6. Sentry
Sentry is another popular JavaScript debugger that can resolve errors with maximum efficiency. Developers can look at the stack trace to find the error or a failed API call. By applying source maps, Sentry can convert minified and compiled code back to its original form.
With Sentry, developers can keep track of user interactions, console log messages, and AJAX requests. Developers can also record the environment, and as a result, replicate bugs in the browser version and OS that are specific to the session. With the tag distribution graph, developers can isolate any error in JavaScript by monitoring the number of times it occurs in a context.
7. Raygun
Raygun offers deep diagnostics about JavaScript errors and performance issues that impact user experiences. It is easy to set up as the provider is just a single script. Developers can see the detailed stack trace, environment, OS, and browser version. With support for breadcrumbs, developers can track the cause of the issues swiftly.
Private sourcemaps are also supported. Developers can monitor each release of the application and see the impacts on software quality and user experiences. They can also capture every error and identify any spikes in performance. To enhance the developer experience, top-level filtering is also offered, where developers can sort performance data by different options.
8. Rollbar
With Rollbar, developers can identify JavaScript errors in real time and get notified about how to fix the errors even before the user can get to them. Rollbar automatically groups similar errors by utilizing fingerprinting technology. All the errors contain detailed data to help monitor and analyze the impact.
Rollbar offers advanced event tracking, which can debug JavaScript errors quickly. Developers can view a timeline of browser events such as user actions, page loads, console logs, and API calls that lead to a specific error. Additionally, Rollbar gives support for stack traces, local variables, IP addresses, affected users, deployed code versions, etc.
9. GlitchTip
GlitchTip is an open-source error-tracking tool that is simple to use. It collects and organizes errors in real time while also notifying the developers about their occurrence. Since it is open source, developers can even modify and use the code as per their choice. In addition to error tracking, application performance monitoring is also supported.
GlitchTip reports exceptions, tracks log messages, and any other violations regarding content security. Along with this, it provides insights into the impact of JavaScript issues on the user experience. This debugging tool can even be integrated with other tools, which can simplify the error resolution process.
10. TrackJS
TrackJS automatically detects bugs on a website and finds out how the user got the error. It can even work on most of the old web browsers. Developers can install the TrackJS Agent and they do not need to change any existing code to use TrackJS. Various errors, such as network, memory, load failures, and console errors, are automatically logged in the Capture API of TrackJS, and developers can set rules to manipulate the errors.
Additionally, TrackJS issues a detailed report about user impact and any custom metadata. This JavaScript debugging tool can alert the developer when any data is changed, so work on resolving the error can begin as soon as possible.
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Conclusion
JavaScript is prone to errors since it is a dynamically typed language, and to debug those errors, developers can use various debugging tools. In this article, we discussed what JavaScript debugging is, what a JavaScript debugging tool is and its types, and the 10 best JavaScript debugging tools that developers can use in 2024.
To pick the most optimal tool for debugging, developers need to understand the type of problem, their use cases, and the quality of customer support for the tool. Keeping these things in mind, developers can make the most of a JavaScript debugging tool.
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