“Real Web Developers Don’t Need Debugging Tools”

Published on May 14, 2010 (updated Feb 11, 2026), filed under development. (Share this post, e.g. on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

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Debugging tools make the developer life easier. They also make it harder.

Debugging tools save the more time the less experienced a web developer is and the more complex a project is.

However, debugging tools can stand in the way of a web developer building up experience, and building up experience more quickly. That is, making too generous use of debugging tools can mean short-term gains (solving a problem faster), but long-term sacrifices (potentially developing less of an understanding of the subject).

What you want to do is make short-term sacrifices (sitting on a problem for a bit longer, if necessary) for long-term gains (building up more experience, and benefiting from that experience in the long run).

Therefore, be mindful of your use of web dev debugging tools—like Firebug or Chrome’s Developer Tools—in order to grow your skills.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager for companies you use every day and companies you’ve never heard of, I’m an occasional contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG), and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also in philosophy. Here on meiert.com I share some of my experiences and perspectives. (I value you being critical, interpreting charitably, and giving feedback.)