Systematic Debugging

Core principle: NO FIXES WITHOUT ROOT CAUSE INVESTIGATION FIRST.

When to Use

Use for ANY technical issue: test failures, bugs, unexpected behavior, performance problems, build failures, integration issues.

Especially when:

• Under time pressure (emergencies make guessing tempting)
• "Just one quick fix" seems obvious
• Previous fix didn't work
• You don't fully understand the issue

The Four Phases

Complete each phase before proceeding to the next.

Phase 1: Root Cause Investigation