console.log is a legitimate debugging tool

I've used breakpoints, profilers, and all the fancy devtools. But when something breaks at 1 AM, my first move is still:

console.log("here");
console.log("here 2");
console.log("WHY IS THIS UNDEFINED");

It's not pretty, but it works. Here's what I've noticed over time:

• Writing a log forces me to state what I expect. To log a value, I first have to decide what it should be at that line.
• It works everywhere. Every language, every stack, zero setup.
• The bug often shows up while I'm typing the log. Half the time I find it before running anything.

Where it stops working

The rule I follow now: if I've added more than 5 logs, I'm guessing, not debugging.

At that point the logs have stopped answering questions and started adding noise. That's the moment to stop and step through the code with a real debugger, where I can inspect state, watch the call stack, and see exactly where the value changes.

Print debugging isn't the problem

Used on purpose, console.log is a fast way to test a hypothesis. The trouble starts when it replaces thinking.

Print debugging isn't the problem. Not knowing when to stop is.