Testing and debugging tips

[oharac]

hey all, let's use this issue to keep track of debugging and testing tips and tricks. Add new comments to the thread or just edit this comment and add your ideas.

• have your code print out the values of variables as it works through loops or whatever, so you can make sure the variables are changing as you'd like them to.
  • e.g. cat('x =', x, ' y =', y)
• use functions to chunk out smaller pieces of code to do a single specific thing well. I think we were all already doing that!
  • functions are great for attaching a name to a chunk of code, which makes your code easier to read and troubleshoot
  • it's generally easier to troubleshoot a small function and get it working properly, than to troubleshoot a big chunk of code.