Root Cause Tracing

Overview

Bugs often manifest deep in the call stack. Your instinct is to fix where the error appears, but that's treating a symptom.

Core principle: Trace backward through the call chain until you find the original trigger, then fix at the source.

When to Use

• Error happens deep in execution (not at entry point)
• Stack trace shows long call chain
• Unclear where invalid data originated
• Need to find which code triggers the problem

The Tracing Process

1. Observe the Symptom