Systematic Debugging

Debugging: reproduce, isolate, diagnose, fix, verify. Replaces ad-hoc "try random things" with systematic root cause analysis.

When to Use

• Investigating bugs or unexpected behavior
• Test failures with unclear causes
• Runtime errors (crashes, exceptions, wrong output)
• Performance issues (slow, memory leaks)
• User reports "it doesn't work"

Don't use for:

• Writing new code (use technology-specific skills)
• Code review (use critical-partner)
• Planning (use brainstorming)