Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Learn from your tracks

Why would you have a file on your system where status messages can be dumped? Because it is there to warn you. But what if that alarm bell is ringing, but you don't hear it? Problems will arise...

That's why you should check the log files for your applications from time to time. Or actually, make it a regular thing.

Know your tools and platforms, check in what ways there is logging.

For web development, these logs are interesting:
  • Windows Event Log - for ASP.NET exceptions
  • IIS Server Log
  • PHP Log
So, check what your creations are doing, and learn from the mistakes they make.